The August Moon festival in Quincy, organized by the non-profit Quincy Asian Resources (QARI), drew thousands on August 22nd even as it rained throughout most of the day.
Preceded by the Chinatown August Moon festival a week earlier, the Quincy festival celebrates this famous cultural holiday in a community with a large and rapidly growing Asian and Asian American population.
In addition to performances like youth break-dancing and Chinese dance, those who came to the festival enjoyed children’s activities like a moon bounce, Chinese cultural area, a newly created food court, and information on pertinent community organizations as well as freebies and complimentary moon cakes, symbolic of the festival. Some of the organizations who came to educate the public included the Asian Community Development Corporation, the Asian American Civic Association, the South Cove Community Health Center, and the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling.
Quincy Asian Resources Executive Director John Brothers said over 220 volunteers in addition to over 130 sponsors and vendors made the festival possible. “We had an amazing group and representatives to make this happen. A huge amount of work was put in by everyone. Attendance is significantly down and the rain has not cooperated but everyone’s having a good time.”
QARI youth volunteer Agnes Tran, a rising sophomore at North Quincy high school, said, “I’ve been working around the main stage cleaning up the area. My friends and I volunteered at the Lunar New Year Festival before. It’s really busy and hectic.”
Many youth volunteers who volunteer through QARI help organize the festival. Youth also receive community service hours through high schools in Quincy which allows them to qualify for National Honors Society.
Brothers added that the festival attracted lots of notable figures this year like candidate for State representative in Quincy Tackey Chan, Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, State Senator Michael Morrissey, District Attorney William Keating, State Senator Robert O’Leary, Telecommunications and Cable Commissioner Geoffrey Why, and several city councilors.
Chan said he has been “working very hard” and has had a “positive campaign.” He added that he has chaired “dozens of these festivals” and noted that the August Moon Festival is “one of the most important family events in the South Shore and that it shows the strong hard work done by Quincy Asian Resources.”
“The rain is not stopping this festival,” Chan said.
QARI primarily serves the Asian immigrant population of the South Shore through Information & Referral Services, translation, English for Speakers of Other Languages, outreach, volunteering and youth leadership programs.
Natalie Ornell is a Sampan correspondent.