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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University is offering a glimpse of Southeast Asian culture with its second annual Hmong Night on Saturday, Jan. 29.

The festival, which is open to the public, starts at 6 p.m. in OSU's Memorial Union Ballroom. Tickets are required, but are free and can be picked up at OSU's Student Involvement office in Memorial Union East Room 149. For information, contact Seng Vue at 503-780-2425 or via e-mail at vues@onid.orst.edu. Vue is president of OSU's Hmong Minority Opportunity Nationality Group, the student organization sponsoring the event.

The Hmong are an ethnic minority in Laos, who came to worldwide attention during the Vietnam War.

"The purpose of the evening is to promote awareness in the community and to let people know that there is an ethnicity called Hmong," said Zy Xiong, social, advertising and decoration committee coordinator for the Hmong student group.

"We would like to share our culture with the community by showing people how we sing, how we dance and by sharing our food."

Sacramento singer Rose Xiong will perform during the evening, as will Californian musician Kao Yang.

"We'll also have performers from a Portland dance troupe, a skit performed by OSU students and a fashion show," Xiong said.

The evening's cuisine will include a coconut milk soup, similar to Thai curry, but with rice noodles; a pork dish flavored with onion and cilantro, and purple sticky rice and white rice, Xiong said.

The student group, which includes 35 members, began planning for the event last August, she said.