The 20th Annual Autumn Moon Festival will be held in San Francisco Chinatown on Saturday and Sunday, September 18th and 19th, 2010, beginning with an opening ceremony and parade at 11am. (directions and map) (city-owned public parking garages)
Presented by the Chinatown Merchants Association, the "Moon Festival", as it is popularly known, will include a street bazaar, live entertainment, and multiple parades to be held along historic Grant Avenue between California Street and Columbus Avenue until 6pm daily. Over 100,000 people are expected to attend the Moon Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday celebration.
Entertainers this year will include martial artists and acrobats from the well-known Yau Kung Moon Gung Fu Studio, popular radio host and writer Ben Fong Torres, who will sing a medley of famous songs, dancers in ornate costume from the China Dance School and Theatre, the St. Mary's Drum and Bell Corps, the Miss Asian America Queen and Court and the Moon God and Goddess . A variety of other performances will be offered on three stages throughout the festivities, hosted by Mistresses of Ceremonies Anita Cheung and Rose Chung. A giant moon cake, a traditional Chinese pastry and symbol of the holiday, will be on display to mark the 20th anniversary celebration.
The Chinatown community cordially invites the public to join us in this grand celebration. Plus, a special gift will be offered to those dressed in Chinese-themed costume.
Celebrated in Asia for more than 1,000 years, the Moon Festival marks a time to reflect upon the bounty of the summer harvest, the fullness of the moon, and the myth of the moon Goddess, Chang O (or Chang E). The Moon Festival is a distinctly and authentically Asian holiday which has been likened to a sort of "Chinese Thanksgiving". It is among the most popular holidays in Asia, ranking alongside the celebration of the lunar New Year in cultural significance.
Come and enjoy the celebration and don't forget to take home some traditional Mooncakes.
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