The Asian American Student Association (AASA) at Germantown Academy (GA) held a celebration for the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival. Asian American students and faculty came together and shared mooncakes, Songpyeon, snacks, pomelos, and aloe vera drinks together while watching a presentation about the festival. AASA wishes to make opportunities like this to provide a space where students can bond through shared identities and learn about different cultures.
The Mid-Autumn festival is an Asian holiday that celebrates harvest, reunion, and the moon, dating back 3,000 years. Though it originated in China, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated all around Asia, including in Vietnam and Korea, all with different traditions and celebratory practices.
In China, people celebrate Zhong Qiu Jie by eating Yue Bing, or mooncakes that are intricately designed with diverse fillings. Known as Chuseok in Korea, Koreans celebrate by eating Songpyeon, a type of rice cake, and visiting ancestral graves. In Vietnam, it’s called Tet Thrung Thu, featuring lantern parades, lion dances, and baked mooncakes called Banh Nuong and Banh Deo.
The Mid-Autumn festival has evolved all across Asia and features a variety of rich and diverse beliefs and traditions.
“My family usually eats Liangmian and mooncakes,” Sophie Sun, ‘28 said. “Liangmian is a dish that has glass noodles.”
“I eat dinner with my family, eat mooncakes, look at the moon and make lanterns,” Damian Chang ‘29 said. “It’s a nice way to have the family come together.”
In modern times, the Mid-Autumn festival is celebrated among many communities worldwide, including our school in AASA. AASA holds a meeting every year on the Mid-Autumn Festival to educate the community through videos and traditional foods.
“We’ll have a lot of games and food, especially mooncakes and stuff related to Chinese culture, Chloe Zhou ’26, AASA leader, said. “We see this as a way not just for AASA but for the community as a whole to come and learn about the Mid-Autumn Festival.”
AASA’s meeting provides a way for people of all backgrounds to engage in different cultures and explore new perspectives. This helps bring out underrepresented parts of our community and increase diversity.
“Diversity is important because of representation; certain people are not represented enough, but celebrations like this create a way for them to feel included.” Jadyn Shu ’29 said.
AASA wants to prioritize spreading awareness about various cultures and provide a space for their celebrations. Celebrating such traditional holidays allows those who share the same identity to bond and celebrate themselves; seeing many people celebrate the same tradition as oneself can be a heartwarming feeling.
“It’s nice to know that I have something in common with all these people, and hopefully we can maybe celebrate together!” Sophie Sun ‘28 said.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a holiday, celebrated and valued by many in our community. The AASA celebration allowed students and faculty from all different ethnicities at GA to experience this and many other parts of Asian culture.