11th Moon Festival in Port Jervis Brings Classical Arts to the Stage

PORT JERVIS, N.Y.—Thousands have enjoyed the largest Asian food and culture festival in the Hudson Valley, held on the green New Century festival grounds in Port Jervis.

The 11th Annual Moon Festival at New Century was held on the weekend of Sept. 19–20. Crowds bustled between local vendors who were roasting kebabs and authentic Asian cuisine. The center of the festival was the large tent before the stage; live performances went on all afternoon.

The Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a Chinese harvest festival in the lunar Calendar. It gets its name from the time that coincides with when the moon is supposedly the brightest. The festival is over 3,000 years old, and other East and Southeast Asian cultures celebrate similar holidays at this time.

The Moon Festival is a time for family and friends to gather and give thanks for the harvest and friendship. The cultural staples of the holiday include lanterns of many shapes, sweet mooncakes, and matchmaking.

In Chinese mythology, the festival centers around the moon goddess Chang’e. Originally the human wife of the legendary archer Hou Yi, she was made a goddess on the moon without her husband after drinking the elixir of immortality.

This year, the live performances included many classical Chinese arts, including drummers, dancers, and players of Chinese instruments like the erhu. On Saturday, the performance program stretched nearly non-stop from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.

One of the 50 performances was a traditional attire show, where fashion from different dynasties was shown, and the context and reasons for the designs were described. The models formed a procession and walked through the festival lanes, led by armored warriors playing Taiko drums.

In the Tang Village portion of the festival, which focused particularly on Chinese culture, visitors had the opportunity to dress in traditional Chinese garb, have their names written in calligraphy, and taste candied fruit desserts like tanghulu.

Two friends, Melody, from Brooklyn, and Tammy, from New Jersey, described the event as inviting and engaging. Tammy said: “[Everything is] interesting. Your eyes are drawn to everything. You want to go check everything out.”

Melody commented, “It’s not just the food and culture, we stopped by and learned a little bit about Chinese medicine and herbs, and bought myself a little bracelet for the energy to chase off my bad juju … Interacting with the vendors, they’re all very happy to explain what we don’t understand.”

They described it as being able to experience China without the flight. They particularly enjoyed the traditional costume and drum procession.

Melody and Tammy said they became interested in Chinese culture after getting into Chinese TV dramas. Melody said, “It’s a chance to explore Chinese thought and how it is very different from the way we think on this side of the world.”

Jimmy Choi, a college student at Fei Tian College Northern in Middletown, is originally from Hong Kong. He said this was the fourth or fifth Moon Festival he’d been to at New Century.

“The hosts really made it a balance between a lively atmosphere and also one that’s cultured, with performances that are quite good.”

The highlight for him was the authentic food. “They have some handmade noodles right here. It’s like they rolled the dough and then they cut it into noodles. I really enjoyed that.”

The holiday of the Moon Festival holds particular importance to Choi, since it brings people together. “[The festival] means a time of union between families. You know, a lot of Chinese families, maybe they separate through work or through school, and it’s just such a good time of the year for everybody to come back and see each other and remind themselves of who they care for every day,” Choi said.

The Epoch Times is a cosponsor of the Annual Moon Festival at New Century, and owns the property through a subsidiary organization.