A night of music, fashion, dancing and fine cuisine will hop the Atlantic and find its way to University Park this weekend.

The African Student Association (ASA) will hold its annual program, "Touch of Africa," at 6 this Saturday night at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, 215 Innovation Blvd.

"The purpose of the show is mainly to offer culture to the Penn State community," said Abdelgadir Elmadani, ASA president. "We want to educate the average Penn State student and give them a chance to hang out and hear people's stories because a lot of students only know about the stereotypes of Africa. We really just want people to learn about Africa and have fun."

This year, Touch of Africa will include a live African band and a fashion show, which has been a big hit in previous years.

"Our show starts by featuring traditional wear and moving up to modern wear," said Jennifer Nmagu, ASA's fashion coordinator. "The models in the show are all ASA members."

This year will be the first time the show will include a hair show, which will feature the styling of various ASA members.

The show, which has previously been attended by up to 700 students and faculty, is renowned throughout the East Coast and attracts performers from different states, Elmadani said.

This year, the program will include performances by Kulu Mele, a dance group from Philadelphia, and a Nigerian R&B group from New York. The fashion show's clothing is created by a well-known African designer from Maryland.

"We get a lot of acts from different areas because showing them the outcome of Touch of Africa from previous years is convincing enough," Elmadani said.

The theme of this year's program is "experiencing Africa's virtue: the promise of tomorrow, the appreciation of today." ASA is bringing the program's guest speaker, Michael Adewumi, vice provost of international student programs, to talk about what Penn State students can do to become better leaders for tomorrow.

Elmadani also said that in previous years, the show's attendance has been extremely diverse, and the majority of students who attend are non-African.

Attendees will also enjoy authentic cuisine from all areas of Africa, which will be prepared by members of ASA in collaboration with chefs from the Penn Stater.

Tickets are $20 for Penn State students and $25 for non-Penn State students and faculty. The doors at the Penn Stater open at 5:30 p.m., and ASA will provide a shuttle that will begin picking up students from the HUB-Robeson Center at 5 p.m.

"People should come out because it's another way for students to learn," Nmagu said. "It's great for students at Penn State to be able to learn about another culture. There's a beauty in knowledge."