Kira Cotts of Aurora likes to shop at the Pacifica Square mall on the far East Side of Aurora and found something more than the usual stores on Saturday afternoon thanks to the Moon Festival being held there.
“We shop here often and I think having an Asian festival here in Aurora is a great idea. This kind of feels a little bit like Chinatown in Chicago,” Cotts said as she and her son Holio, 4, moved through a number of vendor booths at the fest, which celebrated Asian culture. “This is a good way to keep a lot of the cultures connected. Also, it’s a good way to get introduced to new things and open up your perspective on different kinds of people.”
The six-hour festival at Pacifica Square at 4360 E. New York St. featured a myriad of activities including an outdoor laser tag area, a ramen eating contest, musical and dance performances and more.
The free event also included “a taste of Asian food and culture and beyond” with over 40 booths on site, organizers said.
Chris Loo, business development manager for the Windfall Group which helped organize the fest, said it has been held “at least four years” at the site.
“Moon Festival is an Asian tradition that goes back several thousand years … and it has to do with the full moon in regards to harvesting,” Loo said. “Nowadays, it’s akin to Thanksgiving. It’s about being with family and friends and celebrating, sharing. We’re still preserving that tradition here and we’re wanting to grow this event for the community. We’ve added a lot of things to make this fun for the community.”
Loo said there are special traditions centered on the Moon Festival.
“One of the big ones is the moon cakes – those special little tiny cakes that have different shapes and designs and it’s a tradition giving those away. We will be giving those away thanks to some of our sponsors,” he said before the event. “The other tradition is lanterns. Some people may be familiar when they do the floating lanterns in the sky. This is one of the times they would do that, but we don’t do that now because of the fire hazard at our event, but we do have lanterns to give away as prizes.”
Loo said the event draws all sorts of people from the Chicago area.
“We have a lot of Asians and a lot of non-Asians that come to this event because they just like the different diversity,” Loo said.
Omar Gonzalez of Aurora said he knew the event has been going on for a number of years, “but never knew when to stop in.”
“I just stop here randomly to try food and so I came by to see what was happening. I like it,” he said. “The Moon Festival, I think, brings communities together and creates more awareness and brings the cultures together.”
Lauren Smith, also of Aurora, came with Gonzalez and said she “planned to look around and see what’s here.”
“We were eating here and we saw the tents, so we wanted to see what was going on,” Smith explained.
Omar Ramos of Aurora said he “comes every year” to the fest and enjoys many of the regular features including the ramen-eating contest.
“My daughter has an affinity with Korean cultures and specifically with the music and the festival and it’s a great way for us to do something locally and not have to drive to Chicago to have a similar experience,” he said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
