As the sunset Tuesday , the OU Vietnamese Student Association hosted its Lunar Moon Festival in the Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center, ushering in the fall season with a flourish of hat dances and colorful dress.
The festival, traditionally known as Tet Trung Thu, originated from a celebration at the end of the fall harvest and took its name from the moon's prominence in the autumn sky.
Yen Tran, University College junior and president of the Vietnamese Student Association, described the story behind the celebration.
"According to Vietnamese folklore, the moon festival originates from the legend of Cuoi, where his wife accidently urinated on a sacred banyan tree," Tran said. "While she was sitting on it, it rapidly grew to the edges of the moon where she was stranded. So every year, children gather around and light lanterns to show his wife the way back home."
Modern interpretation of the event allows Vietnamese American people to respect tradition and invite the community to partake in the enlightening exchange of culture, Tran said. Through the celebration, she said she hopes to spread her heritage.
"Although our organization may be small, we have a lot of heart and passion to want to show OU how special the Vietnamese culture is to us," Tran said.
The event hosted face-painters, singers and dancers, many of whom were dressed in elegant, pastel colors.
One group representing the Society of Vietnamese Students performed a traditional hat dance.
"We wanted to allow students to see a traditional custom in a traditional cultural setting," said Ngoc Tran, finance junior and dance team member.
The team had been working on the dance for three months, Ngoc Tran said.
Architecture senior Leah Schroeder attended the festival at the recommendation of a friend.
"I had actually been watching a lot of Korean soap operas, and that kind of sparked my interest into coming here," Schroeder said.
Schroeder thinks the festival will be a memory not soon forgotten.
"I will certainly remember the part about the wife urinating on the sacred tree," Schroeder said.
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