Updated: Sept. 28, 2023, at 8:32 p.m.

Savory scents wafted through the air as students in traditional cultural garb danced the salsa and spun to international melodies at the Multicultural Student Services Center’s 19th annual Block Party on Friday.

MSSC Director Dustin Pickett said nearly 2,000 students, alumni and community members attended the celebration of cultural organizations at GW in University Yard, an event that featured more than 20 performances from student groups like the Ethiopian-Eritrean Students Association, District K and National Pan-Hellenic Council. Students circled the stage to catch a glimpse of the dance routines as others scouted out the student organizations tabling at the party.

Music ranging from the Spanish song “Ateo” by C. Tangana and Nathy Peluso to “MOVE” by Beyoncé blared through U-Yard as performers danced in cultural outfits and performance costumes that varied from classic black tops and blue jeans to traditional ballroom attire.

Marella Bordewyk, the president of Latin dance team GW Fuego, said she interacted with a lot of Spanish-speaking people at the event, which she said doesn’t occur often for her on campus. She added that, as a native Spanish speaker, her teammates asked her to communicate with event attendees who felt more at ease speaking in Spanish when discussing the organization.

Bordewyk said she talks about her organization with “more passion” when she speaks Spanish because of the cultural connection she shares with students who speak Spanish.

“That made me feel connected to my home because it doesn’t happen usually,” Bordewyk said.

Shaved ice company Kona Ice gave out free snow cones to attendees from their truck while University employees distributed Domino’s Pizza. The MSSC also awarded attendees with gift bags and raffle prizes — including two tickets to Kerry Washington’s Thicker than Water book tour that’s taking a stop in Foggy Bottom — to audience members who correctly answered questions about the MSSC throughout the evening.

Sneha Burle, a first-year majoring in psychological and brain sciences and political science, was the first winner of the giveaway after she correctly answered 2004 as the debut year of the MSSC Block Party. Burle said her gift bag included two shirts and a hippo stuffed animal.

Burle said she loved learning about different cultural organizations and watching performances, especially GW Raas — a competitive South Asian dance team — because her roommate performed.

“I really like how it’s more set up like a party, too, instead of a fair,” Burle said.

Coralis Acevedo-Vargas, the co-vice president of Afro-Latinx student group Alianza, said she noticed a few changes to the block party this year, including more student organizations and the addition of sign language interpreters on stage.

“It’s more inclusive, more representation,” Acevedo-Vargas said. “Overall, I see a lot of stuff going on. I think it’s really good.”

Krish Dani, a captain for GW Bhangra — the oldest competitive collegiate Punjabi-style dance team in the U.S. — said he hoped to set the energy for the team’s upcoming competition season with their performance at the block party.

Dani said GW Bhangra combined last year’s choreography from the block party with new moves for their first performance of the season.

“This is the first time we can actually show people our dancing, which is super exciting because this sets the tone for the rest of the year and the rest of our gigs,” Dani said.

Olivia Starz, the president of the Queer and Trans People of Color Association, said the Block Party has become an essential part of the promotion of smaller organizations on campus because awareness of their organization usually spreads through word of mouth. Starz said the Block Party displays the University’s diversity, which people may not see every day.

Starz said QTPOCA looked to attract different types of students during the block party, including seniors and international students.

“It’s a visibility for the smaller orgs,” Starz said. “Breaking it off by weekends is also wonderful because, although it was a little unfortunate that we were last because we missed a whole month and a half, people are going to be even more eager to participate and show up.”

Dina Grossman, the president of Kehila GW — a student organization for students who identify as Jewish and part of the LGBTQ+ community — said the block party builds itself on representing multicultural, religious and LGBTQ+ organizations. 

“We fall into two of those three buckets as a religious org and a queer org,” Grossman said. “It’s really important for us to be able to represent that to the broader community and for people who experience or are part of these multiple marginalized identities to feel like this is a space for them and to celebrate that at a block party because that’s fun.”

Grossman said as president, she wants to make sure there’s always a place for people who are queer and Jewish because it was something she needed as an underclassman.

“I want to maintain that space for people who need it,” Grossman said. “For people who want to find people who exist in those same spheres because I wasn’t quite sure that existed growing up, so I just want that to be there for people who need it.”

Amanda Kikonyogo, the president of the Black Girl Mentorship Program, said her final Block Party was “bittersweet” and appreciated how organizers put the event together.

“Every year, it just keeps getting better and more people get involved and more people are able to show their interest,” Kikonyogo said. “It can only go up from here. I’m really excited to see where it goes from here even as an alumni.”

Jennifer Igbonoba contributed reporting.

This post was updated to clarify the following:

This post was updated to clarify that more than 2,000 people attended the LHC, according to Pickett.