OU's Vietnamese Student Association Celebrates Lunar Moon Festival

The Vietnamese Student Association celebrated the Lunar Moon Festival Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at the Oklahoma Memorial Student Union in an effort to spread the Vietnamese culture.

Hoang Nguyen Truong, secretary of the Vietnamese Student Association, said the Lunar Moon Festival, also known as Tet Trung Thu or the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a traditional celebration of family in Vietnamese culture.

 The Vietnamese Student Association hoped to share the culture of Vietnamese-Americans with the University of Oklahoma student body. The celebration included musical and dance performances, face painting, contests and many more activities.

 The Society of Vietnamese Students performed a traditional Vietnamese dance in colorful dresses while music was playing. The scene silenced the crowd, which was larger than anticipated, until the performance ended to applause.

OU students from the Society of Vietnamese Students performed a traditional dance during the Lunar Moon Festival. PHOTO: Chad Hudson

Nguyen Le, the activities coordinator for the Vietnamese Student Association, said that the event has grown since last years festival.

 “The turn out was more than expected,” Truong said. “I just want students to come to have a better understanding of the different Asian cultures… I wanted a variety of a group of people to come together to celebrate diversity.”

Le echoed Truong's statement by saying, "the main purpose [of the event] was to showcase our culture. It's important for people to learn about the different cultures because our university is so diverse."

The Lunar Moon Festival occurs on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month (September or October on our calendar). It has been around for an estimated 15,000-20,000 years and is often described as a combination of the American Halloween and Thanksgiving.