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This weekend, students may find themselves crossing international borders with the Nepali Students’ Association’s Taste of Nepal event at the University of Idaho.

The Nepali Students’ Association (NSA) was established in 2001 at UI. The primary goal of the organization, as stated on its website, is “to share uniquely rich Nepalese culture with the local community and to provide a homely environment for students from Nepal.”

The organization is known to host welcome and farewell celebrations for Nepali international students, UI NSA President Bikash Sigdel said.

The association even lists all club members and alumni on their organization website.

Though they host a variety of cultural events, the organization’s biggest event is the Taste of Nepal. The cultural show and dinner draws crowds of 400 or more people from all over the Pacific Northwest. It has become a tradition for the organization, and they collaborate on marketing, enterprising, cooking and planning with WSU’s Nepali Student Association.

“We want to promote our Nepal culture, our dances, our music and share that with the diverse community of the Palouse,” WSU NSA President Prashant Pokhrel said.

Sigdel said it is amazing seeing people from Seattle, Portland and beyond come out to the event.

The show includes cultural music and dance performances, as well as an all-you-can-eat buffet. The buffet will include Nepalese foods like momo, dumplings typically served with chutney.

“We will be cooking all the food ourselves,” Sigdel said. “People can expect traditional Nepalese foods like rice, curry, beans and spicy foods.”

Sigdel also said hosting cultural events is important.

“Exploring the world is something that people do when they come to university and United States,” Sigdel said. “This event will let people know there is cultural diversity and what our country is all about.”

Both NSAs donate revenue from their events to different chosen charities. The UI NSA raised money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2015, the WSU NSA raised money for the earthquake that hit Nepal.

This year, the Taste of Nepal event will focus on remembering UI student Mamta Kandel, who died in a car crash this past December.

“We are a small community,” Pokhrel said, “but we collaborate on events together because by coming together, we can make a bigger difference.”

The Taste of Nepal will take place at 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Bruce M. Pitman Center in the International Ballroom in Moscow. Admission is $12 for students and $15 for the public in advance and at the gate. Entrance to the event is free for children under 10.