Chinese Association of Iowa (CAI), Sixth Annual Mid-Autum Festial

iowachinese@yahoo.com
www.iowachinese.org

The 2008 Iowa Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

Saturday, Sept. 27, 4:00-8:00pm
City School Campus (by the West Des Moines City Hall and Library)
4200 Mills Civic Parkway, West Des Moines, Iowa

Proudly Presented by the Chinese Association of Iowa (est. 1987)

Premier Sponsors
City of West Des Moines
Faegre and Benson LLP
Nationwide

Sponsors
1st Consulting, West Des Moines
Chinese Language and Cultural Academy, West Des Moines
Community CPA & Associates, Des Moines
Hebei Chinese Language Program, Des Moines
Iowa Youth Leadership International, West Des Moines
Panda Garden Restaurant, Ankeny

For information or sponsorship opportunity,
Please contact Chinese Association of Iowa Executive Director Swallow Yan
at email iowachinese@yahoo.com or call 988-0901

Bring food to share for the potluck or pay $5.00 per person if you plan to join the pot luck. A joint celebration with the City of West Des Moines' brand new community festival "Illumifest" (Saturday, Sept. 27, 6:00-10:00pm)

Free Admission
Fall Season
Far East Culture
Fireworks
Friendship
Food
Fun

and
M & M (Music and Mooncake)

FREE carnival rides and inflatables, FREE hot air balloon rides, displays and demonstrations by the Chinese Association of Iowa, LIVE MUSIC by the Legacy Band which is sponsored by West Bank, a beverage garden which is sponsored by the West Des Moines Chamber and Valley Junction Foundation, food vendors, and the lantern making and display. The evening will conclude with a fireworks extravaganza presented by Aviva.

Celebrating Chinese heritage, cultures, and community. Enjoying friendship, cultural demonstrations, music and dancing, arts, food, children activities, and fireworks.

The Chinese Association of Iowa appreciates the past sponsors for the Iowa Chinese Mid-Autumn Festivals in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007:

1st Consulting, Ankeny School District, Bankers Trust, CK International, Community CPA & Associates, DMACC, Drake University, Faegre and Benson LLP, Gift of Love International Adoptions, Golden Teapot, Holmes Automobile Group, Iowa Finance Authority, Iowa Arts Council, Iowa Sister States, Iowa Realty, Kemin Industries, Meredith, Nationwide, Pioneer Hi-bred International, RDG Planning and Design, Sams Club, Townsend Engineering, Waukee School District, and Wells Fargo.

The City of West Des Moines invites the Iowa Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival to join the brand new community festival called Illumifest by City of West Des Moines on September 27th. The Illumifest will be from 6-10pm the fireworks will be at 9:45pm. The Iowa Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival will be from 4-8pm

Bring your own food to share or pay $5.00 per person for the potluck. Enjoy friendship, Chinese cultural and arts, food and children activities. The potluck will start at 4:30pm and the cultural programs will start at 5:00pm.

This year the Chinese community will celebrate Iowan athletes and their great achievements in the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The following events will happen during our 4-8pm Mid-Autumn Festival:

Potluck (4:30-5:00pm), China's Olympic Games photo exhibit, Chinese cooking demonstrations, Chinese calligraphy and painting demonstrations, Chinese martial arts demonstrations, Chinese Tai-Chi demonstrations, Iowa Chinese t-shirts, Lucky winners for the door prizes.

This year the Chinese community will join the brand new community festival called Illumifest by City of West Des Moines on September 27th and they are inviting people to come and help illuminate West Des Moines! The Illumifest will be from 6-10pm at the same location with the Iowa Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. The Illumifest will feature a number of activities for people of all ages from carnival (all free!), band, food and hundreds of lanterns. The Chinese community is very pleased to join the West Des Moines festival and celebrate the Chinese culture together.

About the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival (ÖÐÇï½Ú, zh¹ng qi¹± ji¹¦), also known as the Moon Festival, is a popular East Asian tradition of Chinese origin, dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty, that spread to neighboring cultures like Japan. It was first called Mid-Autumn festival in the Zhou Dynasty. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival. The Chinese Lantern Festival is held on the 15 day of the first lunar month.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar (usually around mid- or late-September in the Gregorian calendar), a date that parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Chinese Lunar New Year), and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date.

Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomeloes together.

Accompanying the celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, such as:
Eating moon cakes outside under the moon
Putting pomelo rinds on one's head
Carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, floating sky lanterns
Burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang'e
Planting Mid-Autumn trees
Collecting dandelion leaves and distributing them evenly among family members
Fire Dragon Dances
Shops selling mooncakes, before the festival, often display pictures of Chang'e floating to the moon.

About the Iowa Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

The Chinese Association of Iowa has hosted the Annual Iowa Chinese Mid-Autumn Festivals since 2003. The autumn festivals have been rotated to different areas to meet the community diversified culture needs: DMACC West Campus, West Des Moines (2003), Capital Square, Des Moines Downtown (2004), Saylorville Lake, Polk City, Drake University, and State Capitol, Des Moines (2005), Saylorville Lake, Polk City, and Sams Club Parking Lot, Windsor Heights (2006), and Sams Club Parking Lot, Windsor Heights (2007).

Source: www.iowachinese.org

About the Illumifest

City of West Des Moines Parks and Recreation will roll out a brand new community festival called Illumifest on September 27th and they are inviting people to come and help illuminate West Des Moines! The evening event, which will be held on the City/School Campus (4200 Mills Civic Parkway) from 6-10pm, will feature a number of activies for people of all ages.
People can be a part of the event by creating their own lantern during the evening, and then be a part of a special lighting ceremony that will conclude the evening. "Our goal is to have 500 lanterns lighting up around the campus pond." event director Todd Seaman stated. "People can decorate their own paper lantern and then everyone will receive a LED light to light it as well." he added. The lantern making is sponsored by The Mid America Group.

Another key attraction of the event is a public art display of lanterns that were specially made for Illumifest by Iowa artists. The lanterns are part of an art contest that features several lanterns created by adult and youth artists. The art competition is funded through a grant from Prairie Meadows. The lanterns will also be part of an auction that will help raise money for next year's contest.
Other activities include: FREE carnival rides and inflatables, FREE hot air balloon rides, displays and demonstrations by the Chinese Association of Iowa, LIVE MUSIC by the Legacy Band which is sponsored by West Bank, a beverage garden which is sponsored by the WDM Chamber and Valley Junction Foundation, food vendors, and the lantern making and display. The evening will conclude with a fireworks extravaganza presented by Aviva.

Mark your calendars now so you don't miss out on what will be a special evening of entertainment and fun!!

Source: www.wdm-ia.com/Index.aspx?page=116&recordid=1178