Centre for Newcomers hosts internationally flavoured holiday potluck

Centre for Newcomers host international-flavoured potluck A holiday season potluck had a distinctly international flavour Thursday night at the Centre for Newcomers.

An annual holiday season potluck with a twist resumed Thursday night in Calgary after a two-year pandemic pause.

The Centre for Newcomers hosted the culinary event, which featured home-cooked food from across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, South America and more.

Fourteen Calgary cooks put together 17 different dishes.

The event was first held in 2018 and 2019, but put on hold when the pandemic hit in 2020.

Now, it's back and organizers and guests were grateful for the opportunity to share a meal, learn about other cultures and make a few new Canadians feel a little more at home.

"The reason we wanted to do this was we said, we really want people to feel engaged and sit in one table," said Rabah Swaidek of the Centre for Newcomers. "As you can see, it's kind of like a family-style dinner and so we wanted to bring people from all walks of life. So our newcomers, people from the community at large, (can all) come together, eat amazing foods and talk about life."

The event also served as a fundraiser to support the Centre for Newcomers' programs.