Waitakere Moon Festival

Background

Auckland's only Moon Festival!

Waitakere Moon Festival, an event that celebrates the cultural diversity in our community, with a particular focus on Chinese language and traditions through the sharing of music, dance, arts, crafts and cuisine.

The festival features a full entertainment programme with and exciting line up of local and international performers, martial art demonstrations, the Cantonese Opera Society and fashion parades.

The Moon Festival is a popular East Asian celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China's Zhou Dynasty. The traditional three stages of celebration are the welcome, gazing and farewell of the moon.

Moon Festivals falls during the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, this year we are celebrating on the 13th of September on a date that parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar.

While Westerner's may talk about the "man in the moon" the Chinese talk about the "women in the moon". The story of Chang'e and her flight to the moon, familiar to most Chinese citizens, is a favorite subject of poets. Unlike many lunar deities in other cultures who personify the moon, Chang'e lives in the moon.

The Moon Goddess Chang'e, the wife of an ancient ruler who consumed the elixir of immortality and drifted to the moon. She resides in the Moon Palace accompanied by a jade rabbit.

The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake; of which there are many different varieties. Prior to the Festival moon cakes are presented as gifts, the presentation of moon cakes is an opportunity for networking and relationship building and expresses social solidarity between giving and receiving parties.

Lanterns are also instrumental in the Moon Festival, accompanying the celebration's customs it is common to carry brightly lit lanterns.

The Festival commences with a traditional lion dance and a Maori welcome, there is a full entertainment programme and a stunning fireworks display to conclude the evening.

There will be a bustling market place, performances, demonstrations on both indoor and outdoor stages, a fashion parade showcasing traditional Chinese costumes, hands on activities and workshops for young and old to enjoy and a full programme of quality entertainment from the many different Asian cultures.