The yellow moon quietly watched over the quad as Augustana students celebrated the Asian Student Organization’s (ASO) annual Moon Festival in collaboration with the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) and the Office of International Student and Scholar Services (OISSS). This year, the cultural holiday was celebrated on Sept. 17 around the world and on Sept. 20 by Augustana students.
Bright-hued lanterns were scattered across the quad, hanging from trees and aiding the moon in lighting the night. The quad swelled with laughter and joy as students gathered around tables for a night full of food, celebration, performances and tradition.
Also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, Eastern Asian countries celebrate the Moon Festival in September. During the Moon Festival, communities appreciate the moon and hold a festival, hoping for a plentiful harvest. Celebrators typically commune with family and friends and partake in moon gazing, lantern viewing and, of course, mooncakes.
Senior Rachel Jocson, president of ASO, said the Moon Festival allows students to easily experience rich and diverse culture on campus.
“[Moon Festival] brings a lot of people together from different organizations and who are involved in different things on campus,” Jocson said. “When I was a freshman, it was a fun and accessible way to get involved with ASO and see what work culture groups and student organizations generally can do on campus.”
Junior Leslie Gamez, ASO’s public relations chair, said the Moon Festival was the first of several events ASO will share with the campus this year.
“The whole point of ASO is to build a community within Augustana where we can all feel at home but also expose it to other organizations and other people on campus,” Gamez said.
Professor Hua Mei-Chang and members of VSA shared a brief history of the festival, explaining its cultural significance and how different countries celebrate it. Mei-Chang explained that this tradition traces 3000 years to the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Chinese emperors worshiped the harvest moon believing this practice would bring them plentiful crops in the coming years.
Augustana students from various backgrounds and traditions celebrated the Moon Festival with Chinese food from Great Wall in Rock Island, Ill., lessons from the Mahjong club and performances by various Augustana students. Jocson is thankful for all student organizations and local businesses that supported and provided for the festival.
The evening began with remarks from student leaders from ASO and VSA. Vu Minh, president of VSA, thanked ASO for allowing VSA to share its culture with Augustana students.
“[The Moon Festival is] about getting together, having fun and being kids all over,” Minh said.
Throughout the night, students and groups from ASO and VSA performed dances and songs by Asian-identifying artists. Some performances included Jocson and Kayla Hobbs, ASO’s co-vice president, singing “The Way Things Go ” by Beabadoobee and a dance by Anna Ramberg from UNYK Multicultural Dance Troupe.
Junior Lucas Teng, ASO’s co-vice president, hoped students left the festival with a new appreciation and understanding of Asian culture.
“Something like the Mid Autumn Festival, which is really big in Asia and Southeast Asian countries, is a big part of their culture,” Teng said. “If we could give a little sliver of that to Augustana and give them a little bit of a sense of what other cultures are like, that’s something that we’re really proud of.”
