Chicagoans are invited to gaze at a movie and the moon during Saturday’s celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, in Chinatown.
“It’s really a symbol for unity, for togetherness, for cherishing each other,” said Hong Chen, director of the Chinese Language and Literature Program at Loyola University Chicago.
The Moon Festival is on the 15th of the eighth lunar month, coinciding with when the moon is believed to be at its fullest, Chen said.
Chinatown’s celebration will host an open talent show starting at 5 p.m., an outdoor showing of “Raya and the Last Dragon” at 7 p.m. and a full moon viewing at 9 p.m.
At past talent shows, contestants have performed cultural dances, kung-fu, singing and a lion dance, said Sharon Wong, one of the festival’s hosts.
Movie viewers are recommended to bring picnic blankets and lawn chairs, and free popcorn and cotton candy will be offered. The hosts are also planning a mooncake tasting session, Wong said. Afterwards, 10 telescope operators will offer chances to view the full moon, she said.
The celebration is free. Any donations made will be given to seniors in the area and money donations will be used for the Double Ninth Festival in October to celebrate seniors, Wong said.
Chinatown isn’t just a destination for food and beverage, Wong said, but a place to make memories. She said she’s hoping this celebration helps people preserve this traditional Chinese holiday.
“The main reason I keep doing it is because I have children too. The main reason for me is to remember the importance of family; that’s the main part that keeps me moving for all these years,” Wong said.
Wong has helped run the Moon Festival celebration since 2005. Before her, the Chamber of Commerce had celebrations dating back to the late 1990s, she said. Since she began hosting it, she estimates that more than 1,000 people have celebrated the festival together in Chinatown square.
Earliest celebrations of the Moon Festival date back 3,000 years to when Chinese emperors worshiped the moon for bountiful harvests, Chen said. In the modern day the festival is the second largest celebrated in China and often celebrates family.
The celebration will contain many paper lanterns, which Chen said celebrates a bright future and good fortune. Though different regions may celebrate the holiday slightly differently, mooncakes are a must, Chen said.
Mooncakes are a Chinese pastry, traditionally made with red bean paste, sugar, lard and egg yolk in the middle with a variety of carvings on the outside, Chen said. Like the moon, their roundness celebrates togetherness.
Chinatown’s Moon Festival celebration is one of many Moon Festival celebrations across the city this weekend. A Mid-Autumn Festival, hosted by State Rep. Hoan Huynh, Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th) and various organizations will take place this Saturday at the Asia on Argyle area of Uptown.
Similar holidays, called Tết Trung Thu or Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam, Chuseok or autumn eve in Korea, and Tsukimi or moon-viewing in Japan, are also celebrated around this time, according to the Chicago Chinatown Moon Festival’s website.
