Here’s what you Missed at the Asian Moon Festival

Thursday, Oct. 2, the University of Central Oklahoma’s Asian American Student Association hosted the 25^th annual Asian Moon Festival, a night of celebration and culture, AASA members said.

The event featured traditional performances, cultural booths, Asian cuisine, and games.

 The festival was a way for students to find a home at UCO, and for the public to come out and learn about Asian culture, said Mimi Hoang, AASA’s marketing director.

The Moon festival had double to triple the number of attendees from the last, said Savannah Manuel, AASA’s Vice President.

A Collaborative Approach to Planning

            AASA started planning the festival months before, around May- June they started the collaboration process between students, other UCO organizations and vendors, said Hoang.

The Moon festival had many of the Diversity Round Table student organizations come out and share their culture and group information. AASA, alongside other organizations at UCO, is under DTR, a campus group that celebrates culture, identity, and advocacy.

All the organizations are like a family, Manuel said.

               “Last year and up till now, we have been collaborating on each of these events”.

President of AASA, Kalvin Gutierrez, said, This was the first year they had this many organizations come out to the table during an event.

AASA also collaborated with local businesses like Tao Cha to cater food to attendees, and Happy Lemon Tea to cater drinks.  

The festival collaborated and featured student dance groups, which came out to showcase their styles and performances to Korean pop music.

Student Groups

NASA brought a “stick ball game”, Vice President Alisa Gramm said, and had arts and crafts for attendees.

Gramm said they were educating attendees on upcoming events, such as the Native American Heritage Month kickoff happening on Nov. 5.

• Asian American Student Association.

AASA showcased their upcoming events, and had information for others about Asian American culture, along with sharing what attendees’ birth month animals were, marketing director Mimi Hoang said.

Hoang said it was amazing to see all the people come out to support the Asian culture.

• Hispanic American Student Association

            HASA had arts and crafts, like button making, for attendees and promoted their upcoming events

• Vietnamese Student Association

They brought a gambling game called Baucua.

• Japanese Student Association

            Showcased their upcoming event, Japanese night, and the international festival happening on Nov. 8. They also had a game called Kendama.

• Iranian Association

               Amir T, a student of the association, said they were sharing information about Iran and their upcoming events alongside coloring arts and crafts for attendees

• Nepal Student Association

            Sharing information about Nepal, while attendees could also make and color lanterns,

Vice President Kriti Kafle and Secretary Ayushi said they were excited to meet new people and share information about Nepal.

• Malaysian Student Association

Students brought Pictures of Malaysian food and dessert, traditional games, and origami making.

Navitha, part of the tables support committee, said this was a good opportunity to get to know everyone, build connections, and share her culture.

• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

NAACP, sharing information about upcoming events alongside a game called, pin the tail on UCO’s mascot buddy, attendees could try.

NAACP advocates for all people and hosts events that give people information about safety, mental health, and more, A’Torica Smith, director of operations, said.

Smith said it was cool to see all the different organizations and cultures come out and celebrate.

• Hindu Student Association

President S. Mohini Powell said they were offering free information about the culture, and free books and flyers for attendees.

Officer, Ishu Rumi was showcasing classes they do, such as weekly yoga and music, and singing.

               The table also had a matching game of Hindu Gods, called Deities of India, meaning Gods and Goddesses of India, Rumi said.           

• Black Male Initiative

               BMI had information about their organization and how to get involved, in addition to  BMI merch.

BMI focuses on mentorship and the academic advancement of men, said member Devin Gains.

Gaines said they were excited for the opportunity to network, to put their name out there at the festival.

• Mixed Martial Arts Club

            MMAC offered information on how to get involved and when they have practices.        

The table featured MMA practice boards, as well as the different levels of MMA belts, said member Amelia Testa.

               Testa said they were excited to get the opportunity to table and show others about MMA.

Performances

The festival had multiple dance groups and open floors for attendees to dance and celebrate Asian culture through K-pop.

AASA members started the night off with Kanpai Taiko Drums.

Next, the OSU Hydra Dance team took the floor with their own choreographed K-pop dances  

LYT dance group took the stage next, also showing their own K-pop dance.

After, there was an open dance floor for attendees to join in on, random K-pop dances, said AASA president, Kalvin Gutierrez.

Next, UCO’s Martial Arts Club took the floor, showcasing a Mixed martial arts performance.

Following the MAC, Hydra took the floor again for a second performance.

The night ended with a GQ Lion Dance performance, a traditional dance of Chinese culture. The group is composed mostly of students, Gutierrez said

Food varieties at the festival

AASA catered food from the Tao Cha restaurant, serving fried rice, orange chicken, and spring rolls. There was also a variety of Asian American sweets like Hello Panda chocolate cookies and Mooncakes.

AASA collaborated with Happy Lemon Tea, where attendees could buy different types of boba tea, such as boba milk tea and strawberry tea.

Gutierrez said Happy Lemon donated 50% of sales to AASA.

Activities and entertainment

               AASA had a DJ for music and performances. They had multiple outdoor games set up for attendees, like Connect-4, bean bag toss, and more. In addition to those, a photobooth was open for attendees to capture pictures and take them home. AASA ended the night by giving t-shirts to attendees using a t-shirt cannon.