The Vietnamese Student Association will host its annual Autumn Moon Festival at 7 p.m. Friday in the Barfield Drawing Room located in the Bill Daniel Student Center.

The event is free and open to the public.

Student performances, a lantern lighting, a fashion show and free food will all be part of the festival, and members of the Vietnamese Student Association are excited to show people of the Baylor community the traditions of Vietnamese culture.

“It’s really fun to share this with Baylor as Vietnamese people,” said Fort Worth junior Elizabeth Do, secretary of the Vietnamese Student Association. “We want to bring this to the Baylor community and show people what Autumn Moon is.”

Do said Autumn Moon is a festival that is part of Vietnamese culture to celebrate full harvest. One of the traditions of the celebration is the lighting of lanterns, which is to celebrate the brightness of the moon this time of year.

“In past years, we’ve handed out lanterns to guests for the lighting ceremony, but this year we’re doing something different,” Do said. “People will be able to make their own lanterns this year. It’s going to be interesting.”

Along with the lantern lighting, traditional Vietnamese games will be played as well. Arlington senior Nicole Nguyen, president of the Vietnamese Student Association, said games such as Bo Cue Ca Cop, a Vietnamese board game, will be played at the festival.

“I’m excited to see the turnout since we’ll be trying a few different things,” Nicole Nguyen said. “We want to see if it’ll grow while we spread awareness of the Vietnamese culture.”

Nicole Nguyen said in past years when holding the event, the outcome has been good.

This year, they are expecting even more people and want to record the precise number of people who attend.

Besides having traditional Vietnamese board games and a lantern lighting, skits telling students about Autumn Moon will be put on by members of the Vietnamese Student Association as well as a fashion show to display typical Vietnamese fashion.

Houston senior Angeline Nguyen, a member of the Asian Student Association, said she has participated in the fashion show put on during the festival for the past three years.
“It’s important to bring Vietnamese and Asian culture to Waco since there is not a lot of it here,” Angeline Nguyen said. “This year I think everyone is more involved and it’s going to be great.”

To find out more information regarding the Autumn Moon Festival, email Nicole_Nguyen@baylor.edu or visit the Baylor Vietnamese Student Association’s website at baylorvsa.webs.com.