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Memorial Park makes room for another festival
Chinese 'Moon Festival' will be held Sept. 11-12
By Michelle Ku
The tight scheduling of events at Memorial Park this September just became tighter.
The two-day Moon Festival, a community cultural event, received City Council approval to be held at the park on Sept. 11 and 12. The festival will be the first in three consecutive weeks of major events at the park. The Moon Festival will be followed by Art in the Park on Sept. 19 and Octoberfest on Sept. 25 and 26.
This is the first time Memorial Park will host three major events in a month, said Steve Dowling, parks and recreation director.
"There are a few concerns about timing since it is back-to-back-to-back, but those are not major," Dowling said. "The Moon Festival will be similar to the Cherry Blossom Festival in scale and scope and it is in keeping with council goals."
The City Council approved the request unanimously. Following the event, a review will be conducted to evaluate the impact of the festival on the community.
Councilman Don Burnett asked that festival organizers begin planning for next year's event immediately following this year's to avoid the stress on the park and the neighbors.
Because the Moon Festival is tied to the lunar calendar, festival organizers had a small window of possible dates to choose from.
"The Moon Festival is Aug. 15 on the Chinese calendar, which happens to be in September," said Fernando Chen, festival organizer.
With three events scheduled so closely together, city staff was concerned about the impact on the park's landscaping and reaction of neighbors to the overbooking of the park, since August will be busy.
Memorial Park events scheduled for August include the Art and Wine Festival, summer concerts, Taste of Cupertino and performances of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.
"Everybody loves that park and there's a concern the festivals over time will take their toll on the landscaping," Dowling said.
City staff was also concerned that so many festivals in a month could decrease attendance of the events, but since each one targets a different audience, the consideration was minimal.
"It's a different concept," Dowling said. "As a matter of fact, the other two festivals didn't have any concerns."
The Moon Festival will include cultural arts, crafts, food booths and shows. Festival organizers are also inviting groups from Hsinchu City, Taiwan, to perform. Hsinchu City and Cupertino established a Friendship City agreement in November.
The Moon Festival is an annual Chinese celebration of the moon and a time when members of families typically have reunions.
According to one version of the legend, the festival came into being at a time when there was a young king with a great deal of power, who did not care about the welfare of his people. He asked a witch to make him a pill so he could live forever as a king. His wife learned of the plan and stole the pill. The king chased the wife, and she swallowed the pill. She stopped running and then drifted up to the full moon on Aug. 15. Ever since, people have celebrated the moon and have remembered her life on that day.
"The people remember her because she's a good person," said Lucia Wu, a festival co-chair.
In the Chinese culture, the moon's roundness is a symbol of unity and reunion.
"[The round shape of the moon] is perfect harmony, which is very good," said Fernando Chen, festival organizer. "This festival is particularly important for reunion and the meaning of perfect harmony."
Parks and Recreation coordinates the park calendar without council approval, but because the event was being scheduled without the preferred year's notice, the decision was made at the council level.
Because Art in the Park and Octoberfest are annual events, the city could be faced with the park's hosting three events in a row next year.
The city "would definitely try to avoid that," Dowling said. "We'll work with festival organizers around the calendar."
At the most, the city usually books two festivals a month.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
