Residents from across the region will gather Sunday, September 27, for the fourth annual International Food + Culture Fest, a migrant-led celebration featuring 17 kitchens, live music, dance and cultural workshops at Casa José Guadalupe Zuno in Guadalajara’s Colonia Americana.
Hosted by The Rhizome Center for Migrants under the theme “Many Journeys, One Community,” the festival runs from 3 to 7 p.m. and coincides with the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Organizers hope to bring together Tapatíos, migrants, refugees, returnees, expats and newcomers around food, culture and shared experience.
The program includes music by Wombay and Antwan, French-Mexican performer Agathe and Cuban group Calor de Habana, traditional Indian dance by Parivaar, and workshops in henna, Arabic writing, Wixárika beadwork, origami and more.
But behind the public celebration is a deeper purpose: creating spaces where people who arrived in Guadalajara under very different circumstances can meet one another, share their stories and find a sense of belonging.
That idea was on display a couple of weeks before the festival, when participating vendors gathered around the table at Speakeasy Cocina, hosted by Chinese-American chef Alice Liu, a longtime Rhizome Center supporter.
There was Egyptian yogurt bread, Brazilian cachaça and conversation that moved among Spanish, English and memories of places thousands of miles apart. Some had come to Mexico for love. Others followed children or careers. Still others came from countries where remaining had become difficult or impossible.
“A lot of times when people talk about migrants, they talk about those who are passing through, who are in transit,” Rhizome Center Executive Director Tran Dang told the group. “But there are communities that are already here, and people don’t talk about them.”
The festival, she said, is an opportunity to give those communities visibility while creating spaces for exchange and solidarity.
Among the returning participants is Egyptian cook Menna Amin, whose family has lived in Mexico for nearly a decade. Her husband, Hassem, told the group that Mexico has become their country now. Menna brought a sweet yogurt bread made from a family recipe — “100 percent Egyptian,” she said. Guadalajara’s Egyptian community, they noted, numbers only a handful of families.
Brazilian artist and baker Tâmara Santos Emiliano came to Mexico four years ago to marry her Mexican husband. Now in her third year at the festival, she and her husband see it as something of an annual highlight — a chance to sample what the other vendors are making as well as share a taste of Brazil.
“You go eat. You go try things. You taste the flavors of the world,” she said with a smile. This year, she hopes to offer not only Brazilian sweets but a savory bite as well, “a little sweet, a little savory,” all made, she said, “with a lot of love.”
Kia Yee, originally from Wisconsin, first came to Guadalajara as a student and later returned after meeting the man who became her husband. At the festival she will share Southern U.S. soul food alongside South African dishes prepared with Oageng Tsatsi, a member of Yee’s Black in Guadalajara community.
Yee’s potato salad, she explained, carries generations of history rooted in the Black Southern tradition of transforming limited ingredients into something sustaining and delicious. Tsatsi will contribute chakalaka, a vegetable relish, and dombolo, a steamed bread.
For Venezuelan chef Henry, the migration theme has another resonance. He and his wife chose to remain in Mexico, but he spoke of fellow Venezuelans who endured far more difficult journeys, including those who crossed the Darién Gap before traveling north through Mexico. “When somebody helps you, when somebody extends a hand to you,” he said, that support can be crucial.
For profiles on each of the participating chefs, artists and presenters, follow the Migrant Day event page on Instagram @diversidadGDL.
The festival is a fundraiser for The Rhizome Center for Migrants, which provides legal, humanitarian and community support to migrants, refugees, returnees and deported people rebuilding their lives in Mexico. Its work places particular emphasis on what happens after deportation — including the challenge of rebuilding a sense of home and belonging.
Tickets cost 375 to 500 pesos — 375 pesos in advance through EventBrite, and 425 at the door for picnic-style seating, 500 for VIP seating at a table — and include six food or drink vouchers.
Those unable to attend can purchase a ticket to be donated to a client of The Rhizome Center for Migrants who might not be able to attend. Tickets and more info here: eventbrite.com.mx.