Chinese group to sponsor Moon Festival on campus

As Bloomington begins its transition to fall, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association will celebrate with its annual Moon Festival Garden Party on Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. in Dunn Meadow.

“Moon Festival is one of the biggest traditional festivals in China,” CSSA Director of Marketing Xuemeng Wang said.

The Moon Festival began gaining popularity in the Tang Dynasty, and the exact date on which it is celebrated varies from year to year, she said.

“It’s based on the lunar calendar, so each fifteenth of October in the lunar calendar is the Moon Festival,” Wang said.

This year’s actual Moon Festival was Sept. 12, but CSSA plans to help Bloomington celebrate this weekend.

In China there are 56 ethnic groups, and each group celebrates the Moon Festival in different ways, Wang said.

The Dunn Meadow celebration will include games, music, dancing and free moon cakes, a dessert traditionally eaten during Moon Festival in China.

“Chinese people believe that the whole world, we share the same moon. And wherever you are, if you’re looking at the moon, you can see your family members,” Wang said. “So with moon cakes, you kind of experience your missing family members.”

For more information about CSSA or the Moon Festival, visit indiana.edu/~iucssa.

— Kirsten Clark