San Francisco Chinatown Hosts
19th Annual Autumn Moon Festival Street Fair
September 19th - 20th, 2009

Autumn Moon Festival brings music, cuisine, and culture to the streets of San Francisco 
Chinatown's Most Attended Annual Festival to Celebrate 19^th Year

SAN FRANCISCO – June 11, 2009 The Chinatown Merchants Association will present the 19th Annual Celebration of the City's Autumn Moon Festival the weekend of September 19-20, 2009, from 11am to 6pm each day. During the Moon Festival, Chinatown's historic Grant Avenue will become a pedestrian-only bazaar with live entertainment between California and Broadway, as will Pacific Street between Stockton and Kearny streets. Admission is absolutely free and everyone is welcome.

The Moon Festival, Chinatown’s best-attended annual event for several years running, marks a significant holiday on the Chinese lunar calendar. To mark its celebration, several stages throughout Chinatown will feature a variety of live entertainment acts. Among the performers this year will be a host of Asian-themed dancers and drummers, traditional and contemporary musicians including martial artists, and magicians. Hourly lion dance performances will take place along famous Grant Avenue. New this year, will be a photo display of the winning entries of its first annual Moon Festival photo contest sponsored by the Chinatown Merchants Association and the Chinatown Photo Society.

The Festival's many street vendors will offer visitors the best shopping around on everything from plants to housewares, clothes and souvenirs. And, as always, Moon Festival sponsors will join Chinatown merchants in presenting a variety of special offers, activities, arts and crafts, and food along the main festival route. The famous Dragon will close the festivities at 5pm on Sunday. Attendance at the Moon Festival is always high, so the public is encouraged to use BART or MUNI to reach Chinatown.

About Moon Festivals

Moon Festival celebrations, though still relatively new to the U.S., have been held throughout Asia for well over 1,000 years. This holiday is a time to reflect upon the bounty of the summer harvest, the fullness of the moon, and the myth of the immortal moon Goddess, Chang O, who lives in the moon.

The Moon Festival is often compared to a sort of “Chinese Thanksgiving”
because of its spirit of gratitude and its inclusion of abundant food — including the popular moon cake. Moon cakes are flaky, round, semi-sweet pastries often filled with bean or lotus-seed paste and topped with a duck egg, echoing the shape of the full moon. Many millions of moon cakes are gifted around the time of the Moon Festival.

About the 2009 Autumn Moon Festival

The Autumn Moon Festival is organized by The Chinatown Merchants Association. The CMA is an independent community organization dedicated to the revitalization of commerce and tourism in one of America's most unique historic neighborhoods. Through its annual sponsorship of tradition-based events like the Annual Autumn Moon Festival, the CMA seeks to help visitors and locals alike appreciate the rich cultural heritage of Chinatown and all those who live and work in it. More information about the Autumn Moon Festival is posted at www.moonfestival.org.

The 2009 Autumn Moon Festival is presented by Major Sponsor Safeway and Co-Sponsor, Portsmouth Square Plaza Corporation.

Also funded in part by Grants for the Arts.   

Major Sponsor: Safeway      

For more information, please call (415) 982-6306 Email: info@moonfestival.org.