I was walking down the street last week and I heard two students discussing their plans to attend a “Fall Fest” over the weekend. I felt very interested in this event. In different languages, this kind of festival has different names. If you translate the Chinese term “Zhong Qiu Jie” into English, it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, while these students summarized it with a more familiar term.
As the name suggests, the Mid-Autumn Festival is indeed a festival celebrated in the fall. Unlike the traditional American fall fest, this festival is not made up of falling leaves, pumpkins and acorns, but rather the moon, lanterns and mooncakes – many traditional Eastern elements. Despite their differences, both festivals bring everyone together to enjoy performances, eat delicious food and celebrate a beautiful day.
During the last week of September, there were two events to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival on Villanova’s campus. One event was hosted by the Campus Activities Team (CAT) in collaboration with Villanova International Students Organization (VISO). It was at Cafe Nova on Friday, Sept. 29. The other event hosted was by Global Interdisciplinary Studies, Chinese Culture Club and more organizations on Saturday, Sept. 30 in the Mullen Center. Both were very successful.
CAT and VISO started planning for their festival over two weeks ago. I had the honor of working with CAT marketing as part of VISO on the poster design. Research for the design focused on colors, traditions, legends and important symbols. Since Mid-Autumn Festival has a tradition of moon appreciation, the poster had a dark blue background to represent the night sky and a gold full moon. Sophomore Katy Waterman discusses her role in planning the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration as marketing director for CAT.
“My first step was to learn about the cultural importance of the Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as understanding what symbols, colors, and cuisine were traditionally associated with this event,” Waterman said. “Members of VISO shared their understanding of the event, as well as their vision for what we would be creating here on campus. It was important to us that we maintain the cultural integrity of the event, while also providing an interactive way for students to engage with and learn about the festival.”
Meanwhile, other members of the clubs worked hard to help set up the venue. President of VISO, junior Simran Mishra, described what went on during this event.
“At the Mid-Autumn festival event at Cafe Nova, VISO and CAT had arranged different kinds of mooncakes, candies, a photo booth for capturing memories, mid-autumn music and dragon decorations to set the festive mood, and everyone came together to make beautiful lanterns as part of the celebration,” Mishra said. “It was a delightful blend of traditions and fun activities.”
The second event was a celebration in the Mullen Center with many of the school’s departments coming together. This event was planned by the Asian Student Association (ASA), which helped to make this celebration possible. Additionally, Villanova student performers and invited off-campus cultural organizations contributed to the night.
In addition to the annual chorus of Chinese students, the festival also served as a platform for many students to perform their talents, such as singing, instrumental performances and Chinese yo-yo. The performances were supplemented by many interesting and interactive sessions, as well. During the last part of the show, the audience was invited to volunteer for the Chinese square dance on stage, which, simply by the name, is dancing on the square. The crowd’s cheering was the best testament to the core of the Mid-Autumn Festival. There was an undeniable merriment to the atmosphere during this performance.
The weather at Villanova this weekend was not ideal. Friday night was drizzly, while Saturday’s night sky was still covered in clouds. It was nearly impossible to see how full the moon really was when looking up at the sky. But it was certainly a beautiful weekend with everyone gathering together and having fun. In the end, please believe behind the thick clouds in outer space, there is always a full moon quietly watching over the joyful people on Earth in the middle of autumn.
