Nadia Cassidy talks to us about how her dream of setting up an Egyptian food stall led to the creation of Fusion Sundays – World Culture Market, a unique monthly celebration of ethnic diversity in Dublin 8.
Tell us how Fusion Sundays – World Culture Market first got started.
I was dreaming of a place where people like myself from different ethnic backgrounds could meet each other as well as other Irish people. My husband and I were living in Dublin 8, a very multicultural area in Dublin, and we were involved in the Dublin Food Co-op for several years. I’m half Egyptian and I’m very interested in Egyptian food and cooking so I wanted to bring that to the Dublin Food Co-op. As it turned out, it was very complicated to set up a food stall in Dublin. In fact it was easier to set up the entire market than to set up just one food stall!
I think Ireland is a very unique place because there’s still a little bit of excitement in the air when you come from a different country and it is really lovely to be welcomed like that. I also think there’s a really great opportunity to fight racism by interacting in a relaxed atmosphere, getting to know people from different communities and getting to know Irish people as well.
What can people expect from a typical Fusion Sundays experience?
It’s a very relaxed kind of vibe, very family friendly and a really good place for like-minded people to meet. We have a good variety of stalls selling arts and crafts, handmade items that people make themselves, as well as people who bring things from their own country, like Polish pottery or jewellery from Peru, to sell. We have quite a few street food stalls from all around the world and while we have a couple of regular stalls, we also try to mix it up to make it more interesting for everybody. Beyond offering a place for people to shop, we also have pop-up workshops for adults and kids as well as a little stage where we have performances and nice music.
You mentioned the food there, what kinds of food can visitors enjoy at the market?
We’ve got several really delicious baked goods stalls, such as Scéal Bakery which sells really interesting San Francisco-inspired bread and Gyro, a Korean food stall which does kimchi and Korean pancakes. We had a lady last week doing Indian street food and pani puri, which I can only describe as being like tiny little space shuttles that explode in your mouth! We have a little Arabic tea tent and we’ve finally managed to set up an Egyptian food stall where we do Kushari, a mix of pasta, rice and lentils with a spicy, fiery tomato sauce. We also do a bean sandwich with fresh coriander, feta cheese, lime and chilli as well as various sweet treats.
Beyond the food, the market also celebrates diversity with a number of workshops, events and performances.
When we first started out there was a little stage at the market and some friends who wanted to practice their music played there. Eventually the ball got rolling and now we have plenty of performers applying every month. We’ve got a lot of different things going on, including belly dance workshops, Italian dance workshops, and workshops that show people how to do turbans and head wraps. We also have a number of different yoga workshops including a laughter yoga one that’s really popular, where people come and meet and basically laugh together.
How do you go about attracting vendors and performers?
That’s actually the hardest bit because of course there are always people who come to the market, get inspired and want to set up something like a food stall because they’re keen to showcase the type of food from where they’re from. We have quite a lot of people applying and it’s a little bit tricky to filter things out and make sure we have a good selection, but it’s interesting work.
It sounds like you have a great variety of nationalities involved.
I feel like I’ve had everyone from every single country so far! We have a lot of Polish and Eastern European people selling pottery and beautiful things and at the last market we had a big Brazilian Corner with four or five stalls. We have a couple of charity organisations trying to create awareness of what they’re doing and then we have African, South African and Arabic stalls as well. It’s really very different every time, people from everywhere and often you come across people from countries that you just didn’t know existed.
Five years on, what else do you have planned?
I’m delighted that we’ve been able to go for such a long time now. I think the biggest success is that we’ve managed to run this event for five years; setting up what is essentially a different market every month. We’re happy with what we’re doing so we’re also planning to set up a World Culture Night Market later this summer.
The next Fusion Sundays World Culture Market takes place on Sunday June 11th and subsequently on the second Sunday of every month. Located at Newmarket Square, the family-friendly event welcomes people from all corners of the globe. The event is wheelchair accessible with plenty of free parking available.
Words: Martina Murray
