The month of September brings not only a whirlwind of homework, tests and football weekends, but also the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. Also known as the Moon Festival, it’s a holiday similar to the American Thanksgiving. 

The Association of Chinese Students and Scholars will host an event to celebrate the festival this Thursday, Sept. 27 at 4:00 p.m. The event offers a chance for both international Chinese students and anyone who is interested in Chinese culture to experience a taste of China. 

“It’s just a festival to bring families together, enjoy their weekend, eat some traditional foods and celebrate the festival together,” said Yumeng Zhang, a senior majoring in Finance. 

The festival is the second-biggest holiday in China, and the event seeks to share the experience with all types of people and help them gather together.

“Our purpose is to bring Chinese students together and let the new students meet some of the students who have already been here for several years,” Zhang said. “It’s open for everybody so we might have some local students come and socialize as well.”

Shaokang Hu, a senior double majoring in Accounting and Finance, hopes this event will bring Chinese students together to make them feel more at home and also give any student who is interested in Chinese tradition and culture the chance to take part in it. 

“We want to gather people together since we celebrate this festival in China with family, Hu said. “And since we are far away from our family, we think that maybe it will make people feel more like home. We want to spread our culture.”

The event will be serving traditional Chinese food like barbecue and also a classic Chinese moon cake to all in attendance. The moon cake, produced only in China, is served much like an American turkey and dressing at Thanksgiving. 

Luci Willis, a junior double majoring in Public Relations and International Studies, studied abroad in China this past summer and said she feels encouraged by the opportunity this festival will bring to students. 

“I think this event is going to be a great opportunity because it gives you a taste of Chinese culture in a very approachable way,” Willis said.

Willis pointed out that it can sometimes be difficult to get to know international students, and this event will provide the chance for local students to meet new people. 

“One of the problems is people think that the people who take class in B.B. Comer are a group all in their own, and it’s hard to approach a group of foreign exchange students all at once,” Willis said. “This will be a casual and low key environment, and they’re excited to share a little bit of home.”

The event will take place this Thursday at 4:00 and will be held at the Park at Manderson Landing, which is located at the Riverwalk. It’s $5 to attend, and both cash and Bama Cash will be accepted. All students are welcome.