On Oct. 23 Loyola University Chicago's Vietnamese Student Alliance (VSA) and Chinese American Student Association (CASA) hosted their annual Mid-Autumn Festival. Held in Loyola's Damen Den, the event provided students the chance to celebrate the traditional harvest festival that is celebrated in parts of East and Southeast Asia.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a cultural and religious holiday held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar. It is recognized most notably in China and Vietnam, but is also celebrated in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. The holiday is famous for its signature dish, mooncakes, which are pastries filled with either red bean paste or lotus seed paste.
As the evening kicked off, CASA and VSA put on a short presentation describing traditional games and traditions, the significance of a family's alter preparation during the holiday, and traditional carp lanterns. They discussed that in Chicago, Vietnamese people celebrate the holiday by spending it with friends and family, which is why it is so important to them to host an event for it each year.
After the presentation, Diana Ly, of the Vietnamese Association of Illinois (VAI), spoke to students about the importance of voting in the upcoming midterm elections. She reminded the audience that voting registration may be over, but encouraged them to register to vote on election day. Additionally, she encouraged the young people to look up their individual polling places, so that there would not be any surprises on election day.
"We need to get Vietnamese Asian-Americans out to vote," she said. "In order to make change within our community we need to come out. We need to show up."
Of course, no festival would be complete without food! Students were able to try famous cuisine from both China and Vietnam, with vegetarian options for every dish. Plates were filled with egg rolls, banh mi sandwiches, stir fry, rice, lo main, and chop suey. As part of the celebration, all food was free for Loyola students.
Ben Piscopo (pictured above, far right) is a third year student at Loyola but had never attended the festival before. To him, the food was a nice touch for more reasons beyond being delicious. "The food is really great! It's nice to experience the culture through the cuisine and VSA gave us a great opportunity to do that."
As the students ate and talked, there were several activities to explore. Traditional Chinese and Vietnamese games were set up throughout the room, with club members standing by to help explain rules and concepts. Those who participated were given tickets, which they could then cash in for prizes. Calligraphy paper and ink were located in the back, where students could brush up on their skills or learn for the first time. And a photo wall was placed at the rear of the room for festival goers to use the location-sensitive snapchat filter. To view a gallery of the activities, click here.
Cindy Dang, co-president of VSA, was pleased with the turnout. "We hit about 200 people last year and I just counted the numbers and we hit over 200 tonight," she said. "It's very exciting to see people come out for this event!"
She said that Loyola students can look forward to VSA's general body meeting, which will take place on Nov. 1 and include a bingo night paired with the sweet Vietnamese dessert, Chè. After that, Nov. 27 will be the VSA's cuisine night.