‘Immersed in the culture’: Chinatown’s Mid-Autumn Festival features dance, crafts and mooncakes

Sixteen-year-old Yuki Xu is the first to admit that nothing beats the Mid-Autumn Festival in China. She said there’s no escaping the music, the decorations, or the flow of mooncakes.

“You’re just immersed in the culture,” she said.

Philly’s Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival, meanwhile, spans Arch through Vine Streets along 10th Street — so not quite on the same scale as China, though there is a mooncake-eating competition. Still, Xu and others said the contrast made them cherish Philly’s festivities all the more.

In its 28th year, the festival once again drew thousands, with organizer Asian Americans United expecting to have a final count of about 7,000 attendees. The day featured a full schedule of Beijing opera, Taiko drumming, and kung fu demonstrations. Volunteers attended craft tables for zodiac mask making, lantern cutting, and folding paper fans adorned with small flowers made of colorful tissue paper.

» READ MORE: Eight things to know about the Mid-Autumn Festival in Philly’s Chinatown

Cindy Jiang, 17, helped children and adults gently trace over Chinese characters with black paint at a calligraphy station. The finished pieces wished people a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

“Calligraphy is an art style that is difficult to pass down,” said Jiang. “That’s why we have it here, we want it to keep spreading.”

The Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Moon Festival. And it’s been celebrated in Asia for thousands of years, usually on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is brightest. It’s similar to Thanksgiving, a day for families to gather.

Passing down traditions to people who’ve never been to China or haven’t visited in a long time was cited by several parents bringing their children to the festival.

“In our generation, it’s hard to keep up these traditions,” said Michael Trieu, 39, who with his wife was cutting out lanterns with their children, ages 5 and 7.

Families said that between work and school, the Mid-Autumn Festival can be overlooked in the home, especially if you don’t have a wider group of people to celebrate with. But the annual festival in Chinatown drums up enthusiasm among adults and serves as a reminder that these traditions are alive and well. Trieu said his young children were the ones who asked to go this year after seeing a flier.

For many adults, the festival helps address the yearning they say is brought about by the immigrant experience. Tong Xu, 41, said it had been four years since she visited China with her children.

“It’s hard to teach them the culture in such a short period of time,” she said as she helped her daughter Fiona, 5, add some glitter to a rabbit mask. “They don’t have a lot of memories.”

Xu said memories of giant celebrations such as the Mid-Autumn Festival in China are some of those most dear to her and she wants her children to have something similar.

“I am an American but I’m also Chinese,” she said, adding that she wants her children to know they’re not alone. Should they ever have a longing for their roots, they have thousands of people who also share their traditions and are happy to celebrate with them.

Still, Saturday’s festival wasn’t all fun and music. Organizers registered voters and grassroots groups offered to connect people to legal and medical services.

There were also tables where volunteers drummed up opposition to a proposed Sixers arena that would occupy a footprint from Market to Filbert Streets, between 10th and 11th Streets.

» READ MORE: Follow our Sixers arena coverage

Anti-arena T-shirts were printed in real time and put up for sale.

Alice Vuong, AAU board president, said that like last year, there seemed to be an especially large interest from the community for a celebration such as this after COVID-19 shutdowns and fears that the neighborhood’s character might change if a new Sixers arena were built in Center City. She said the festival was also about celebrating the ecosystem of Chinatown, including businesses, schools, and houses of worship.

“We want to give people a safe space to celebrate themselves, celebrate their culture, language, song, and dance,” she said.