Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival with the Vietnamese Community in San Diego

Lion dances, a lantern parade after dark, music and children performing on stage were part of a wonderful Mid-Autumn Festival in City Heights on Sept. 23. They gave away 2,000 lanterns and 5,000 mooncakes! The children’s performances and lantern parade were especially touching, and the lion dancers were awesome! I had a great time! The event was organized by Little Saigon San Diego Foundation.

https://littlesaigonsandiego.org/

The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, also called the Harvest Festival, is celebrated by most countries in Asia. The festival falls on different days each year, when the moon is full––on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar.

Various legends have been passed down about the moon goddess who is said to live on the moon with her pet rabbit. Giving thanks for the harvest, hanging up paper lantern, gazing at the full moon, and eating moon cake are some of the traditions observed during the moon festival.

The official Mid-Autumn Festival in 2023 is on Friday, Sept. 29.