Amid the festive glow of the people and invited guests, this year’s celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese Moon Festival) proved to be a grand one—literally.
Members of the Baguio Filipino-Cantonese Association as well as invited guests flocked to the Hotel Supreme Opal Hall September 21 to celebrate one of the major festivals of the Chinese folk every year. It was a quaint event, with members of the media and other distinguished guests gracing the occasion in full support to the causes of the association.
It was a momentous event—apart from it being the Mid-Autumn Festival—as an overwhelming number of around 320 guests showed up to commemorate the annual festivity.
Baguio Filipino-Cantonese Association, Moon Festival 2019
Baguio Filipino-Cantonese Association President Peter Ng welcomed the guests to kick things off during the event. What followed were a series of inspirational messages, especially that of Judge Marybelle Demot Marinas who urged members of the association to elevate their social responsibility. It’s good to see them in gatherings like these, but Marinas stressed that community isn’t just about togetherness—it’s also seen in the things that the Filipino-Cantonese association does to give back to the community that loves them just the same.
As a customary practice during Mid Autumn Festivals, guests were also invited to pay their respects in the Moon Festival Ceremony.
A short documentary courtesy of GMA 7’s Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho showed the guests how the titular host traced her Chinese roots and reconnect with her heritage. Long-time members of the Filipino-Cantonese Community couldn’t help but smile as Soho slowly met distant family members and friends—seemingly an ode to how it would’ve felt like to do the same for the members of the association who grew up in Baguio.
Also in attendance was Soho’s uncle himself, Mr. William Seto, an apt representation of the Soho’s support and solidarity to the Baguio Chinese community as a whole.
Of course, the highlight of the 2019 Mid-Autumn Festival was the customary Mooncake dice game, where each table was given the chance to take home the grand prize—a 14-inch mothership mooncake. It was a thrill playing the game, with a few guests staying until after the event to complete the dice rounds and take home the massive prize.
Community, social responsibility, heritage, and fun—these were all the unlikely elements that brought the guests together for a night of commemoration and festivity. In the end, everyone went home with stomachs full of delicious moon cake and hearts filled with newfound meaning and purpose as part of the Filipino-Cantonese community.