NextSharkNextShark.com

SF Chinatown attracts nearly 40,000 visitors during Autumn Moon Festival celebration

SF Chinatown attracts nearly 40,000 visitors during Autumn Moon Festival celebration

San Francisco’s Chinatown held its annual Autumn Moon Festival celebration on Saturday and Sunday.

August 29, 2022
SHARE
Nearly 40,000 visitors went to San Francisco’s Chinatown over the weekend to celebrate this year’s Autumn Moon Festival.
The event typically occurs every September, but organizers decided to celebrate early this year.
The Autumn Moon Festival is actually the second biggest festival in the Chinese culture, and it’s been celebrated for thousands of years – think of it as a Chinese Thanksgiving,” Jenny Chan, the event’s assistant director, told ABC7 News on Friday.
We celebrate it with lanterns [and] mooncake,” Chan explained. “And the mooncake is shaped like a moon because the moon signifies reunion in Chinese culture, and it is celebrated on [a] full moon, which is, this year, it’s September 10th.”
Chan then explained that they decided to hold the event on Aug. 27 and Aug. 28 “because we wanted for people to get the mooncake [and lanterns] ahead of time so they can actually celebrate at home with their family on the day of the Moon Festival.”
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter

A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.

Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.

Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.

The streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown were filled with vendors, music and several events, including a Bruce Lee look-alike contest.
Speaking to ABC7 News, Chan said that the emperor “would wish for a bountiful harvest” in ancient times, but now “we are wishing for a bountiful years [sic] for our neighborhood and also for better days to come.”
For the last two years, we have been very hard hit in our community, as you know. So this is about casting away the bad juju that we have been experiencing and also [about] a renewed energy,” Chan stated.
Miss Chinatown USA 2010 Crystal Lee was also present at the celebration to greet people and take photos with attendees.
It is so great to come back and to have this Moon Festival. It is really important to bring in all these tourists and to let people know that San Francisco’s Chinatown is still alive. We are still here,” Lee told ABC7 News. “It is so great to have these people come in and support the small businesses.”
View post on Twitter
The Autumn Moon Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a significant holiday in Chinese culture that occurs on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It has been celebrated for more than 3,000 years.
Featured Image via giantsrocdaworld
MOST READ
    HAPPENING NOW
      Bryan Ke

      Bryan Ke is a Reporter for NextShark

      SHARE THIS ARTICLE:

      RELATED STORIES FROM NEXTSHARK

      Support
      NextShark's
      Journalism

      Many people might not know this, but NextShark is a small media startup that runs on no outside funding or loans, and with no paywalls or subscription fees, we rely on help from our community and readers like you.

      Everything you see today is built by Asians, for Asians to help amplify our voices globally and support each other. However, we still face many difficulties in our industry because of our commitment to accessible and informational Asian news coverage.

      We hope you consider making a contribution to NextShark so we can continue to provide you quality journalism that informs, educates, and inspires the Asian community. Even a $1 contribution goes a long way. Thank you for supporting NextShark and our community.

      © 2023 NextShark, Inc. All rights reserved.