Established in 1985, Asian Americans United exists so that people of Asian ancestry in Philadelphia exercise leadership to build their communities and unite to challenge oppression.

Asian Americans United

13th Annual Mid-Autumn Festival
Saturday, September 13, 2008
10th Street between Arch & Race

1–5 pm street fair • 4 pm martial arts demonstration • 6 pm lantern parade and lion dance through Chinatown • 6:45–10 p.m. stage performances

download the press release.

VOLUNTEER!

If you’d like to join the team of AAU people who plan, organize, and run the annual festival, please download the info and volunteer form! Please contact Ellen at 215-925-1538 or email esomekawa@mac.com.

HIGH SCHOOL VOLUNTEER NOTICE

The Mid-Autumn Festival will be held on Saturday, September 13th this year. H.S. students who would like to volunteer can email JADE at J.TRINH57@gmail.com.

If you are from Central High School, Girls’ High, Northeast High School, Bodine or South Philadelphia High School, please contact the coordinator at your school.

There are a limited number of slots open to high school volunteers. A mandatory orientation will be held on Wednesday, September 10th at 4pm. If you cannot make it to the orientation, you cannot volunteer.

—Jade, volunteer co-coordinator

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THE FESTIVAL

On Saturday, Sept. 13th, Chinatown celebrates one of the most important holidays in Asia with one of the largest community celebrations of its own. For 13 years, Asian Americans United has hosted the Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival as a community building event to celebrate culture and arts and to highlight the vibrant 140+-year-old community of Chinatown. The event draws thousands of people from across the Delaware Valley in a day-long celebration of Asian arts, culture and festivities.

“This is a testament to the strength and resources of this neighborhood,” said Ellen Somekawa, executive director of Asian Americans United. “We wanted a space where people come together and share the resources and wealth of community and culture.”

Asian Americans United is a 20+-year-old community organization that has worked to highlight the voices of Asian American and immigrant communities across Philadelphia. Mid-Autumn Festival was originally founded by a group of middle schoolers in AAU’s youth program who expressed concerned about the loneliness faced by many immigrant elders during the holidays.

In particular, the youth knew that the Harvest Moon, which is often dubbed as an Asian Thanksgiving, often went overlooked in the U.S. They put on the first Mid-Autumn Festival themselves for their grandparents. 

Since then, Midp-Autumn Festival has grown into Chinatown’s largest community celebration – not only drawing thousands of visitors but also engaging hundreds of volunteers and artists for the day-long event. It has also become a popular stop for politicians and community leaders.

Mid-Autumn Festival opens from 1-5 pm with a street festival featuring games and a 4 pm martial arts performance by Cheung’s Hung Gar Kung Fu Academy. At 6 pm, the evening kicks off with an open lantern parade and lion dance through Chinatown, and culminates in a night of cultural performances ranging from martial arts to Chinese opera.

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12th Annual Mid-Autumn Festival

held on September 22, 2007

photo of the Mid-Autumn Festival parade through Chinatown

Photo: Dr. Joan May T. Cordova

On September 22, thousands of people gathered under the full moon to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in Philadelphia’s Chinatown. Closing down 10th Street, people gathered to reclaim old traditions and establish new ones, and in so doing, asserted their right to exist as a community.

The Festival creates an opportunity for people to connect with each other and with their neighbors. A committee of artists organized daytime arts activities for children. Chinatown restaurants fed the hundreds of volunteers and artists. Sifu Cheung, brought out all of the students from Cheung’s Hung Gar Kung Fu Academy to do lion dance and dragon dance in a lantern procession. The evening culminated in performances showcasing Chinese folk and traditional artists both from the neighborhood and from the larger region, as well as selected other Asian performers, and a tradition of our own invention – our annual mooncake-eating contest.

All of these activities were made possible with support of our event co-sponsors: the Chinese Benevolent Association, the Fujian Fraternal Association, and the Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School, our media supporters Chinese Radio 1540, security services by Delta Chi Psi, Chinatown Town Watch, and students from Cheung’s Kung Fu Academy, the donations of dozens of Chinatown associations and businesses, technical support from our partners at the Philadelphia Folklore Project, and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and The Philadelphia Foundation. Thanks to our Host Committee: Fernando Chang-Muy and Len Reiser, Lai Har Cheung and Kotaro Fujita, Betty Foo, Hunan Restaurant, Helen Gym and Bret Flaherty, Councilman James Kenney, Dr. Evan Loh and Hao-Li Tai Loh, Linh Phan, Kathy Shimizu and Gregor Reid, Ellen Somekawa and Eric Joselyn, Mary Yee and Paul Uyehara, and Ignatius Wang.

Thanks to Mid-Autumn Festival Organizing Committee members: Alex Buligon, David Chan, Ming Chau, Jenny Chen, Maxine Cheng, Michael Chow, Joan May Cordova, Jennifer Huh, Ken Hung, Willy Ip, Debora Kodish, Xin Shen Liu, Betty Lui, Hon Fung Lui, Jian Yong Mai, Dun Mark, Neeta Patel, Kathy Shimizu, Ellen Somekawa, Jack Tam, Wing Tang, Kevin Vo, Ally Vuong, Debbie Wei, Allan K. Wong, and Lisa Yau, who worked for months to organize the Festival.

Thanks to all who were a part of this effort to reclaim culture and strengthen our community.

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