The City of Milpitas held its first Lantern Festival on Friday, Sept. 9, to celebrate Vietnamese cultural traditions.
The event, held at the Civic Center Plaza, is part of a new series Milpitas is hosting in the coming year to foster cultural unity following more than two years of COVID isolation.
The Le Long Den is one of the most important festivals in Vietnamese culture. More than 1,500 Milpitas residents and visitors had the opportunity to write messages of recovery and goodwill on paper lanterns and launch them in the civic center fountain. Children proudly launched the lanterns they had made and decorated at one of the many crafts tables.
Children also played the Vietnamese street game of O An Quan using chalk lines and stones, while others enjoyed kite flying, silk painting or making mooncakes. Throughout the evening, Viet Youth, Viet Entertainment and Vietcoustic performed traditional and contemporary music and dances.
As the night advanced, the Plur Food Truck featured tasty Vietnamese-style food and drinks, while spreading the message of “Peace, Love, Unity and Respect.”
The glowing finale on the water started the 13-day countdown to the autumnal equinox on Thursday, Sept. 22. At 6:03 p.m. that day, the sun will cross the equator, briefly illuminating both northern and southern hemispheres equally and marking the first day of fall.
Source: www.mercurynews.com