Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates shining cultures

Marifer Martinez places the lantern she decorated to the lights string. Photo credit: Olyvia Simpson

Glenn Lawn was lit up with many colorful, glowing lanterns on Monday night as the Cross-Cultural Leadership Center at Chico State hosted their first Mid-Autumn Festival.

The CCLC hosted their first Mid-Autumn festival Monday on Glenn Lawn. Students learned about Asian cultures while being able to design their own lanterns. Photo credit: Olyvia Simpson

Students had the opportunity to learn about six different Asian countries and their traditions while decorating their own paper lanterns, eating Vietnamese pho and admiring the stars through a telescope.

A group of students add designs and meaningful words to their paper lanterns. Photo credit: Olyvia Simpson

“All of this was planned by three students,” Krystle Tonga, a CCLC program coordinator said. The students, Christy Lee, Kaylena Santos and Deanna Rae Hill all began planning for the event over the summer.

“We wanted this to be reflective, not just about hanging up lanterns.” Christy Lee, a CCLC para professional who helped to plan the event said. “We want students to know why they are hanging the lanterns,”

Lorena Velazquez explains the cultural customs of South Korea and India to a group of students. Photo credit: Olyvia Simpson

CCLC set up poster boards with information about different Asian countries and how they each celebrate lantern festivals. “We wanted to represent all Asian countries,” Lee said.

Students were able to decorate their lanterns with glitter, pens, stickers, ribbon and flameless candles. Each color represented a different county, green represented South Korea. Photo credit: Olyvia Simpson

Students were able to learn about the meanings of the different colors in certain Asian countries before they got to pick out which lantern they wanted to decorate.

The event was created as a positive atmosphere for all students to celebrate and de-stress during the midterm season with all the exams and projects, Lee said.