Linh Luong, a senior marketing major and international student, wanted to bring a taste of her native home, Vietnam, to her ULM friends.
With the help of the International Student Association (ISA) on campus, Luong invited fellow Warhawks to attend the Moon Festival.
The Moon Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eight month of the Lunar calendar.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, as it’s also called, is the second grandest festival in China and Vietnam after the New Year’s celebration.
Luong saw the Moon Festival as a perfect opportunity to give her friends a taste of home, both through food and culture, since it fell on a school day.
“We usually celebrate the Moon Festival in Vietnam, China, Taiwan and Singapore to show our thankfulness for the harvest,” Luong said.
According to Luong, the celebration is mostly for people to get together and have fun.
Other than ULM students, the celebration also had students from Grambling in attendance.
The event began with an afternoon preparation at the International Student Center.
Students who had previously signed up through the ISA’s Facebook page were taught how to make a moon cake, a baked good made up of red beans traditionally eaten during the moon festival.
“My favorite part of the Moon Festival was getting to eat the moon cakes that we made in groups. They were delicious,” said Nicholas Green, a communication junior.
The event was very educational for Green, since he had never heard about the Moon Festival anywhere before.
While the moon cakes were baking, another class taught participants how to make paper lanterns, another iconic feature of the Moon Festival.
Both the moon cakes and lit paper lantern were later taken to Bayou Park with traditional Vietnamese music playing en route.
“I’m really happy with the turnout, especially the baking class, which is something that isn’t common on campus. I think the students enjoyed it, and we’re looking forward to doing more things like that,” said Lieke Rovers, a sophomore risk management and insurance major and ISA secretary.
Luong and Rovers worked double duty, as they also served as hosts to guests from the International Student Organization of Grambling University.