Eat your way around the world at Tubman Museum event

The Tubman Museum will once again host its most popular fundraiser, the International Taste of Soul, with promises of tantalizing the taste buds and delighting the travel-curious with a stay-at-home world tour.

“This is a really popular event every year,” said Melanie Byas, director of Marketing & Digital Strategies for the Tubman. “We can’t wait to see everyone come out again for it. It’s always a tremendous amount of fun.”

Byas said the annual fundraising event, happening Sunday at the museum, “meets the goals of our organization, to help raise cultural awareness and celebrate diversity.”

“We want to point out our common bonds, and this time we do it with food and dance. Even better, this event will help us support the 2017 Pan African Festival in Georgia, which also goes directly to our mission,” she said.

The International Taste of Soul brings out community celebrity chefs who pull out all the stops to create delicious dishes that represent countries and cultures around the world. This year, museum guests will have the opportunity to sample dishes by Chef Michael Davis, celibrated culinarian and personal chef, as well as many returning favorites.

“We will have dishes and decorations from countries such as Nigeria, Jamaica, Italy, China, Tanzania, Japan, India and Ireland, as well as more familiar items like traditional American soul food. Everyone can come out and have a good time. We promise no one will leave hungry, either!” Byas said.

With more than 60 dishes planned, that seems like an easy promise to make.

Guests can also enjoy cooking demonstrations by Davis and be entertained by live cultural dance performances by KHicks Contemporary Ballroom Dancing, Paula East Studios and Hayiya Dance Theatre.

“People really enjoy the chance to see different cultures,” Byas said. “The tables are decorated with traditional decorations for each culture and lots of people dress in traditional clothes. It’s a good chance for people to learn and to ask questions, while enjoying food, music and friends. We like to call it the ‘all you can eat around the world culinary experience.’ ”

This is the second year the event will be held in the museum’s newly renovated rotunda.

“Guests can take a culinary journey around the world, as well as view one-of-a-kind pieces of art from the Tubman’s permanent and changing exhibits,” Byas said.

Staff will be on hand to answer questions about the event and the exhibits.

This story was originally published August 24, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Eat your way around the world at Tubman Museum event."