Joining in the 2024 FIU Mid-Autumn Festival celebration

As fall approaches, festivals begin to arise within the U.S. With unique events like apple picking, pumpkin carving, and leaf peeping, FIU is embracing the different cultures surrounding this new season. FIU’s Asian Studies will have their mid-autumn celebration on Monday, September 16, 2024, from 4-6 p.m. (EST) in the Graham Center pit at FIU Modesto A. Maidique Campus.

What activities are planned to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival? Recounting stories of the Mid-Autumn Festival

What is the Mid-Autumn Festival? The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional celebration observed on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, and is also known as the Full Moon Festival, Lantern Festival, Moon Festival, or Mooncake Festival in East and Southeast Asian nations.

The celebration has a rich cultural heritage dating back more than 3,000 years. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a reunion-focused event that involves spending time with family and friends, having a reunion dinner, and taking in the beauty of the moon. As the full moon offers inspiration and optimism, this festival lifts people's hearts and spirits and inspires hope for fresh beginnings, undertakings, accomplishments, and confidence in a bright future.

Lanterns are thought of as beacons that guide people toward wealth and luck. Lanterns are sometimes thrown into the sky as a sign of good luck. Paper lanterns are used during the Mid-Autumn Festival and are illuminated by candles. Basic lanterns are round fan-fold ones; youngsters should use fruit- and animal-shaped lanterns, such as fish, butterflies, dragons, phoenixes, and rabbits. Using pomelo peels to create lanterns is also very common.

Mooncakes are the Mid-Autumn Festival's signature dessert pastry, with a sweet or savory filling. They are mostly round to match the form of the moon, although they can also be square. 

The pastries are eaten at the time when the moon is considered to be full and brightest. The ideal dessert for Mid-Autumn night is a square mooncake that represents the earth and a round mooncake that represents the moon. Mooncakes are the sweet treats connected with the feast as it's believed to bring good luck and wealth.

Thanksgiving compared to the Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival Moon is associated with reunions with loved ones, harvests, and gratitude, much like Thanksgiving. Because Thanksgiving and the Mid-Autumn holiday are not the same, their festivities are not the same. It is highly important to worship the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Thanksgiving and the Mid-Autumn celebration are not the same because of this.

How can the Mid-Autumn Festival be celebrated here?

Even though it originated in Asia, the Mid-Autumn festival can be celebrated across the United States.

“Visiting Chinatown: During the holiday, a lot of Chinatowns in the US hold their own events, such as mooncake sales at neighborhood bakeries.”

"The Mid-Autumn Festival should be shared with friends and family as a way to express your gratitude to them."

"You could also cook together or even celebrate this holiday with friends whose culture observes this occasion!"

“Making lanterns: Create and suspend vibrant lanterns to illuminate the night sky and facilitate moon gazing.”

“Moon-gazing: Take time to appreciate the moon. Because this day is when the moon is most beautiful and round in the year.”