Today, September 12th, Many Asian Americans Celebrate the Moon Festival

Kang & Lee Advertising Explains Significance

New York, NY – September 12, 2011 – The Chinese Zhongqiujie (Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival), Korean Ch’usok(Harvest Moon Festival), and the Vietnamese Têt-Trung-Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival) will be celebrated by many Asian Americans beginning tonight, September 12, 2011.

“Many regard The Moon Festival as a significant part of their culture, incorporating the celebration of family and tradition.” said Cynthia Park, President, Kang & Lee Advertising, the leading multicultural marketing consulting and communications agency specializing in reaching Asian multicultural consumers. “As with many other Asian celebrations, food and children are the centerpiece of this holiday.”

The Moon Festival is a traditional celebration of the Autumn harvest. Chinese legends tell of a Moon Maiden, who, on the 15th night of the 8th lunar moon, little children can see resplendent in the full moon.  Upon this magical occasion, children who make their wishes to this lady of the moon will find their dreams come true.  The Moon Festival is also often called the Women’s Festival, as the moon, like woman, is elegant and beautiful.  On this holiday, Chinese families get together, watch the moon and eat moon cakes.  Moon cakes, pastries with sweet fillings of red bean and lotus seed paste, are exchanged as gifts.

During Ch’usok, Koreans begin the day with rites honoring ancestors.  Families visit the graves of their ancestors to bow and clean the area for the coming winter.  Community activities include music, dance (like Kanggangsuwollae, an ancient circle dance), martial arts demonstrations, and food.  A Ch’usok favorite is Songp’yon, crescent-shaped rice cakes stuffed with sesame seeds, chestnut paste or beans.  Like the Chinese Moon Festival, Ch’usok is a time to give thanks and reaffirm familial and community ties.

For Vietnamese, Têt-Trung-Thu (tet-troong-thoo) is one of the most popular family holidays. Vietnamese families plan their activities around their children on this special day. In traditional Vietnamese society, parents were working so hard to prepare for the harvest that they left the children playing by themselves. To make up for lost time, parents would use the Mid-Autumn festival as an opportunity to show their love and appreciation for their children. Têt-Trung-Thu activities are often centered around children and education. Parents buy lanterns for their children so that they can participate in a candlelit lantern procession at dawn. Lanterns represent brightness while the procession symbolizes success in school. Other children’s activities include arts and crafts in which children make facemasks and lanterns. Children also perform traditional Vietnamese dances for adults and participate in contests for prizes and scholarships.

Next year’s Moon Festival will be September 30, 2012.

About Kang & Lee Advertising
K&L Advertising specializes in reaching Asian multicultural consumers in North America, ranked #1 Asian multicultural agency by Advertising Age Magazine on April 25, 2011. With offices in New York City and Toronto, Kang & Lee services a wide range of blue-chip clients in diverse product categories.

Contact:       
Lisa Skriloff & Yartish Bullock-Okeke
Multicultural Marketing Resources, Inc.
212-242-3351
lisa@multicultural.com; yartish@multicultural.com

Saul Gitlin
K&L Advertising
212-375-8130
SAUL.GITLIN@kanglee.com