On Saturday evening the Mid-Autumn festival, also known as The Moon festival, took place in the Fred Meyer lounge in Riley hall.

The International Club hosted this event in order to celebrate one of the largest festivals of the year for many cultures throughout Asia.

Joanna Buchholz said, “the festival has a lot of different meanings for different cultures, but the universal general one is to celebrate the Moon.”

Many people heard about this event either through Facebook, friends, or through the Japanese, Chinese, or International club.

In the beginning of the evening, the activities included the making of traditional Asian lanterns that signify the coming and warmth of the Sun, and eating a variety of rice balls. Some of these snacks were made up of teriyaki spam on top of rice, whereas others contained pieces of salmon and an almost sour gummy in the center.

Jil Rehbein said that, “the food was really sweet and traditional, I loved it.”

Afterwards, a few skits were performed to demonstrate the origin of the Mid- Autumn festival, followed by some traditional songs sung by the Chinese club. Then, the Japanese club invited everyone to come into a circle and perform two dances that were very similar to follow the leader.

Later, with the full moon at its peak, everyone gathered in a line and with their new-lit lanterns in hand, walked around the IM field to do the annual Mid- Autumn festival parade.

Following the walk, it was time for more of the traditional Asian cuisine, including the Mooncakes in which so many had been excited for. Mooncakes are a desert in which every Asian culture that celebrates this day eats. Some cultures make them from bean paste and egg yolk, whereas others will bake them into a more general rice cake.

Members of the international club, Kanghe Kim and Hanseul Kim, said that every year their favorite parts of the festival are eating Moon cakes and getting everyone together as a family. Besides celebrating the Moon, The Mid-Autumn Festival is also a great time to celebrate being with friends and family.

Having this festival for the fourth year in a row was a success because it brought international students together and gave others an insight into one of the biggest traditions celebrated throughout Asia.

Many said that they had a lot of fun, and that they will definitely come again for the next Mid-Autumn festival in 2016.