MSU’s Chinese Student Coalition, Taiwanese Student Association and Alpha Kappa Delta Phi put together this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, a celebration of good food, friends and a good life.
This year’s events were put together by Kelly Ng-Feng, a chemistry senior, along with Tina Lee, a sophomore in marketing and Chelsea Chiu, a finance senior. The event took place at the Erickson Kiva last Wednesday and featured a variety of interactive games as well as authentic asian cuisine.
“As an Asian-American, first generation student at MSU, the Mid-Autumn Festival means a lot to me,” Lee said. “I don’t get to celebrate this very often and it’s really nice to have a bunch of people that I can celebrate it with as a family.”
The Mid-Autumn Festival, which fell on Sunday this year, is a symbolic event for many Asian countries and Chiu said it is a historic time when people would pray for bountiful harvests for the year to come.
“In ancient history, it’s a day where everyone worships the moon to ask for a bountiful harvest season,” Chiu said. “It means family, unity, long life and good health.”
Chiu said that having this event at MSU is important to her because she used to celebrate it back home in Taiwan — but can’t anymore because she is in America. Seeing people from other cultures and communities come together to celebrate is important to her.
“I would gather with everyone in my family and eat a big meal...That is not something I can get back,” said Chiu. “I am here by myself, and I probably won’t have a time to be with many family members. So I really cherish this time with my (new) family.”
