Barkerville’s annual Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is getting bigger this year in order to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the establishment of the National Historic Site of Canada’s Chinatown.
To mark this special anniversary, the festival has been extended from one day to two – Aug. 24 and 25.
Mid-Autumn Moon Festivals have been held in Asia for more than 1,000 years. This important Chinese holiday celebrates the abundance of the harvest with traditional music, martial arts displays, lantern building and bean curd or lotus seed moon cakes, shaped to reflect the harvest moon.
The Chee Kung Tong, the oldest Chinese ethnic Chinese structure in Canada, was erected by the Chinese Freemasons in Barkerville to help Chinese miners adjust to the realities of living so far from home, and to act as a hospice of sorts for those community members in need.
The Chee Kung Tong was declared a National Historic Site in 2009.
On Saturday, there will be lantern making, games, tours, music, Chinese school, and lion dances. In the evening, there will be two seatings for a special celebratory banquet at the Lung Duck Tong restaurant, more spectacular entertainment, and a lantern parade followed by fireworks.
On Sunday, in addition to more games, tours and lion dancing, there will be a series of short academic presentations related to the contribution of Chinese pioneers in British Columbia at Barkerville’s Visitor Reception Centre.
For more information about the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, or any other Barkerville event, please visit www.barkerville.ca/special_events.htm. For reservations to Saturday’s Lung Duck Tong Banquet, call 1-250-994-3458.
