The Reitz Union Amphitheater was filled to capacity with sounds of cheers, laughter and singing for the second annual Asian Arts and Entertainment Festival Friday night.
About 500 students attended the event.
The festival was a showcase of Asian-Americans in the arts, with the three main acts consisting of singer and YouTube celebrity Gabe Bondoc, comedian Steve Byrne and Quest Crew, the winners of the third season of “America’s Best Dance Crew.”
The festival was the closing event for Kaleidoscope Month, an Asian-American awareness period starting Oct. 5 and ending Friday.
“The goal is to raise awareness to Asian culture at UF,” said Theo Urbano, assistant director of Kaleidoscope Month and a junior nursing major. “The reason we decided on these specific acts was because they represent three different aspects of entertainment: singing, dancing and comedy.”
Gabe Bondoc was the first of the three main acts, serenading the crowd with a five-song set list that consisted of original songs with a few medleys thrown in.
Bondoc was followed by Steve Byrne, an up-and-coming comedian who has appeared multiple times on Comedy Central, including his own special, which aired in 2008.
Byrne performed an almost hourlong routine to the packed amphitheater. Many of his jokes centered on race, relationships and sex.
“Asians are good at math. That’s not a stereotype — that’s fact,” joked the Irish-Korean comedian.
Quest Crew, who headlined the festival, closed with the series of flips, spins, jumps, kicks and dances that won them the title of America’s Best Dance Crew and the adulation of the crowd.
In between the main acts, there was a celebration of UF’s Asian-American students, in keeping with Kaleidoscope Month’s theme, titled “One.”
Two students performed a song to open the show, followed by Gator Fusion, a student dance crew that combines elements of Bhangra, an Indian form of dance, and hip-hop.
Other events held during the month include the Mr. and Miss AASU Pageant, Rice Bowl and the Asian Food Festival.
Urbano would not release the amount of money spent on the acts.
