On Friday, Jan. 27, Loyola’s African Student Association (ASA) hosted its annual Wazobia event in McGuire Hall. The affair was advertised as “a taste of Africa” and “a night of food and entertainment.”

McGuire was transformed with a stage, tables, letter balloons that spelled out “Wazobia,” and red and green lights.

Encouraged to “dress to impress,” attendees wore a mixture of formal attire and traditional African clothing.

The evening started off with a buffet that included some African dishes. A few options were chicken, beef, fish, meat pies, and various rices.

Wazobia featured many different entertainment acts throughout the night. Various poets, rappers, and singers took the stage, and multiple dance groups from Loyola and surrounding universities performed.  The host was even a comedian. Many of the acts had come to Wazobia in previous years so some members of the audience were familiar with the performers and were able to sing along to and participate in many acts.

With each act, there was a lot of energy in the crowd. The audience seemed to enjoy the evening as much as the performers, expressing their excitement through their cheers, laughs, comments and dancing during each performance.

The night was truly a taste of African culture—many performers wore African-inspired clothing or added a piece of Africa into their performance, whether it was the type of dance or the words they sang, said or rapped. The event did a very good job of giving everyone the “taste of Africa” that it promised.

This year was Chris Scantlebury ‘18’s second time attending Wazobia. “What stood out for me is the range of talent the event had to offer. It went from singing to dance and much more,” Scantlebury said. “It just goes to show how talent around our campus and Baltimore can bring people together.”