In 1885, Boston’s Chinatown celebrated their first public celebration of Chinese New Year, their most important holiday. Curiously though, their second most important holiday, the August Moon Festival, wasn’t celebrated publicly in Chinatown until 1970. It is unclear why it took so long for this festival to be celebrated, but it would continue to be celebrated nearly every year afterwards.
The history of the August Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Moon Festival, and the Mooncake Festival, extends back a few thousand years. It has multiple inspirations, from a celebration of the harvest to an honoring of the moon. There are also multiple traditions associated with the holiday, including the lion dance, the lighting of lanterns, and mooncakes.
The first August Moon Festival was celebrated in Chinatown on Sunday, August 29, 1970. The event was sponsored by the Chinese community and Boston’s Summerthing program. It was a day-long event, held from 11am-11:30pm, and included about 21 different activities.
The Boston Herald, August 31, 1970, stated “The August Moon Festival, in Chinese Chung Chiao Chieh, commemorates the harvest and is associated with scores of epics and legends.” It also mentioned, “The traditional Chinese festival honors the moon—especially bright at this time of year—and takes advantage of the good weather.” The article continued, “The new Consulate General of the Republic of China reminded the crowd that the original meaning of the festival was ‘struggle for freedom,’ when it was a celebration of the overthrow of the Mongolian dynasty 600 years ago.”
This article also noticed that “All of Chinatown and many other Bostonians turned out to celebrate the first annual August Moon Festival yesterday, People danced in the streets, feasted in the restaurants and watched festivities from doorways and windows.”
During the festival, a few different stages were set up in various parts of Chinatown, each offering different events. The stage on Beach Street, set up in front of the Cathay House at 70 Beach, showcased events including a demonstration of the Lion Dance by members of the Gung Ho Club, as well as a demonstration of gung-fu martial arts by the Bamboo Hut Club. There was also Chinese folk dancing by students from the Quong Kow Junior High School, as well as a chopstick folk dance by Elaine and Julia Shiang. In addition, there was an electronic music program, called ‘Rock: The Mass Way’ by members of the Boston Chinese Youth Association.
The Harrison Avenue stage included a fashion show of community-originated traditional and contemporary Chinese dress, a children’s lantern parade and the release of 500 helium-filled balloons by the Chinatown Grievance Task Force. On this stage, Mayor Kevin White also presented the trophy for the winner of the afternoon volleyball tournament. The two teams in the volleyball tournament were the Restaurants and the Que Ting, although the name of the winning team was not provided.
On Hudson Street, around 7pm, Mayor White also dedicated and lit the first of 85 pagoda-shaped street lamps, illuminating Chinatown. He was then presented with a moon cake. The Boston Herald, August 31, 1970, noted, “Moon-cakes, made of golden pastry and shaped like porkpies, filled with sweet sugared beans, lotus seeds, nuts or ground meat, were given to visitors who included Mayor White, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Joseph Kennedy H.”
The stage at Hudson and Kneeland streets presented Chinese folk songs sung by the MIT Chinese Student Club, and members of the Que Sing Music Club played traditional Chinese instruments. Additional events held in various other places in Chinatown included a zoo mobile (with sheep and goats), an earth mobile, a crafts mobile (where parents and children made Chinese lanterns and jewelry), and a block dance.
There was also a showing of the Chinese film Tiao Chin, a sword-swinging drama of ancient China with English subtitles. Plus, they set up a Teahouse of the August Moon, which served tea and mooncakes. In addition, a huge mural, designed by Don Heung, was painted on the side of a building at Beech and Hudson streets depicting a Chinese junk, symbolizing Chinatown, sailing on sweeping waves.
A special birthday celebration was also held during the festival at the China Pearl restaurant, where over 400 people gathered for the 100th birthday of Chin Ong Fung, who had lived and worked in Chinatown since 1897, having managed a laundry for about forty years. The celebrants enjoyed a fifteen-course feast.
The Boston Globe, August 31, 1970, mentioned the reason for his longevity, “To reach his age, he suggested that one should never get excited, but take things calmly—and second, when you eat, eat the best. If he could do it again, he would be a restaurant owner, he said.” What a great sentiment, to eat only the best. Mr. Chin wasn’t even the oldest person at his birthday celebration as his guest, Wong Ong Chew, had celebrated his 100th birthday the prior year.
This year will be the 51th anniversary of the first public celebration of the August Moon Festival in Chinatown. That first celebration was quite an event, and it would only grow larger in subsequent years during the 1970s. The pandemic has dampened recent celebrations, but in the near future, Chinatown will bring back these great festivities.
