Mid Autumn Festival 2014

Hey Everyone,


It has been a while. I hope you all have had a wonderful and restful summer. For those of you starting a new school year, good luck! And for those of you, like myself, who are in their final year before graduating,... we can do this! One more year to go!

Over the last few weeks, I have returned to Hong Kong from my month long visit back home. I have just started settling into my new routine and am happy to say that I have managed to hit the ground running. I have signed up for all of my classes and have
 been very fortunate to have received my first choices in my elective courses
 and my studio group.

As some of you may know, this past week was the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Last year, I introduced you to some of the traditional aspects of this holiday: spending time with family, wonderfully prepared dinners, and moon cake. This year, I decided that I would share with you how the rest of Hong Kong celebrated.

A small section of the Festivities

Other than eating dinner and spending time with family, I decided to visit Victoria Park and take part in the festivities. Victoria Park was one of the many venues made open to the public to enjoy cultural performances and buy souvenirs from the Moon Festival. There were a lot of people present at this particular location and everyone was
decked out in glow stick bracelets, flashing decorations and carrying around
paper or plastic lanterns.

Hand paintings sold during the Festival

Among the souvenirs being sold were hand drawn paintings, and traditionally made paper lanterns. The craftsmanship of many of the paper lanterns were spectacular, some were handed painted,

 while others were composed of wire, and tissue paper like material and sometimes even a silk fabric.

Professional Lantern Maker
explaining how each lantern is hand crafter

Not all paper lanterns were collapsible, and there are many different shapes and sizes. The plastic lanterns that were available in some of the small shops, equivalent to a dollar store, were inflatable and illuminated with LEDs. Below were some of the paper flower lanterns available for sale at the carnival. 

 

Beijing Lotus Lanterns

It was a pleasure being able to catch another glimpse of such a festive holiday. I am happy that I was able to participate and experience another Mid-Autumn festival in Hong Kong. If you ever manage to make it all the way here, be sure to check it out.

Thanks again  for taking the time to view my blog,
Until next time, take care!