Korean, Vietnamese Festivals Planned
The San Fernando Valley’s Korean and Vietnamese communities will hold festivals this weekend to celebrate two cultural holidays.
The Valley Korean-American Assn. will host a “Chu-seog” festival Saturday at Mason Park in Chatsworth to celebrate the Korean Thanksgiving, one of the great national holidays in Korea. The noon event will feature a Korean barbecue lunch, traditional folk dancing and a Korean martial arts demonstration.
The public is invited to the celebration at Mason Park at 10500 Mason Ave. in Chatsworth.
In Korea, Thanksgiving is a celebration of hope and community. Koreans mark the day by dressing in new clothes and making offerings of wine, cakes and other food made with new grain to their ancestors who are worshiped along with the family god.
The Vietnamese Seniors Assn. of the San Fernando Valley will also host its Mid-Autumn Festival on Sunday in Canoga Park to celebrate “the day the moon shines the brightest.”
The celebration will feature a dragon dance, martial arts performance and children with lanterns shaped like fish, butterflies and rabbits.
Participants will also sing songs about the moon and feast on “moon cakes” baked especially for the occasion. The event will run from 5 to 8 p.m. at the association’s parking lot, 7241 Corbin Ave. in Canoga Park.
The festivals are indicative of the San Fernando Valley’s burgeoning Asian population. From 1980 to 1990, the Valley’s Asian and Pacific Islander population soared to 124,000, or an increase of 3% to 8%, according to the Asian & Pacific Islander Council.
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