DEERPARK, N.Y.—The 10th annual Moon Festival, showcasing authentic Asian food and culture, kicked off on Sept. 20.
The two-day event beat its previous record of 15,000 attendees in 2024, drawing about 20,000 people, according to the event organizers.
On the green field of New Century Festivals in the Town of Deerpark, packed crowds bustled between rows of food vendors, waiting in line for barbecue skewers, bubble tea, or fried duck. Grill smoke, brightly colored lanterns, and music from the stage at the far end of the festival filled the air around the festivalgoers.
Rui Yang, a New Paltz resident, found the event on Facebook and decided to check it out with her daughter.
Yang told The Epoch Times she was pleasantly surprised by the authenticity of the food.
“I’m from ... China, north part, a place called Shenyang City,“ Yang said. ”I bought a barbecue [skewer] from this shop, and the owner of this shop lived in the town right next to my hometown.
“This is the flavor of home. ... I feel very happy, and it’s a great festival.”
The stage was in use all day. Students from Northern Academy and Fei Tian College in Middletown presented various performances, including traditional Chinese dance, Eastern and Western classical music, and fashion shows featuring historical Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean attire. Other local performers and singers performed as well.
Bonnie Russell traveled from Yonkers with her husband and son to visit the festival.
“I just found a local artist that I bought a beautiful sweatshirt [from] that has the moon design or the moon festival design on it, which is really cool,” she told The Epoch Times.
Russell said she appreciated the diversity of Asian cultures represented at the festival as well.
Rachel Vermudez traveled from New York City after hearing about the festival from a friend. She told The Epoch Times that she found the Orange County area to be very beautiful, especially with its many lakes, and she enjoyed the fashion show.
“It seems like people are enjoying themselves. There’s a lot of diversity. It’s really cool,” she said.
New York state Sen. James Skoufis gave a commemorative speech at the festival.
“The Moon Festival is not just something that happens here in Deerpark in Western Orange County once a year. This has been celebrated for over 3,000 years, and it brings attention, it brings celebration, to gathering and meeting and coming together,” he said.
“It celebrates all of our bounty, and we have so much to celebrate, so much bounty here in Orange County.”
Skoufis told reporters after his speech: “[The festival] is one of the most popular events in not just this community or even Orange County, but really the entire Hudson Valley. It’s maybe one of the most popular and well-attended outdoor festivals in all of New York state.
“And so to have this in our backyard here in our state district and county, it’s really a privilege to be able to host so many people and demonstrate to them all that there is in our community.”
The event concludes on Sept. 21.
The Moon Festival, also called the Mid-Autumn Festival, is observed in East and Southeast Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan to celebrate the harvest. The festival takes place on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, when the moon is at its zenith. This year, the date falls on Oct. 6.
The Moon Festival is known as a time for family reunions, eating foods such as mooncakes, and moon-gazing. Colorful lanterns are also part of the festival culture.
The Epoch Times is a sponsor of the Moon Festival.
