Hong Kong Full Moon Festival

With more and more Hong Kong families moving into the Stockport area, there is a need for a platform to showcase their culture as a new element in the Cultural Stockport and let local people to interact with Hongkongers as to acquire more knowledge about this new group of comers in their neighbourhood. There is no better time than Mid-Autumn Festival in coming September.

Mid-Autumn Festival, or simply Moon Festival, is one of the most important festivals for Hongkongers. It is celebrated on the fifteen of the eighth lunar month of the lunisolar calendar and falls usually in September. The brightest full moon of the year on that day signifies harmony and unity. It is a time for friends and families to get together in reunion. The festival is also a colourful one with all its rituals and traditions including making of lanterns, mooncakes, performing lion dances, and gathering outdoor with friends and families for feasts and folk games like lantern riddles and lighting of candles. The festival is a great opportunity for Hongkongers to celebrate with local society, not only to introduce and share their unique culture and traditions but also to celebrate the cultural diversity and acceptance in their new hometown Stockport.

Proposed Date:

The proposed date for the Hong Kong Full Moon Festival is 15-17 September, 2023, a three days festival over a weekend from Friday to Sunday.

Proposed Venue: Merseyway Shopping Mall Stockport, both indoor and outdoor areas Hong Kong Full Moon Festival will consist of four main areas:

1. Traders market: Hongkongers are well known for their creativity and hardworking mentality. Over 20 creative makers and Hong Kong traders will sell original handicrafts and other popular products from Asia. We have run “HKers Pop-up Store” in Merseyway Shopping Mall twice in this and last year and have received lots of positive feedback from local and Hongkonger communities.
2. Exhibition and Community Area: We would like to engage local people of different age groups with our informative exhibition and children play area. Artists will exhibit their artworks, including but not limited to an exhibition of “Old Hong Kong photos”, “Meanings of Mid-Autumn Festival” and “Gatherings in the UK”. Children’s corner will be set up for them to have a taste about the festival and Hong Kong culture through games and hands-on activities.
3. Music and Entertainment Performances: Cantopop is still an important music genre in Asia. Performances will include Hong Kong Pop-music, traditional Cantonese Opera, magic shows, and other entertainments.

4. Street Food Corner: No Hongkonger gatherings can do without Hong Kong food and that is what Hongkongers are so proud of. Hong Kong style dim sum, popular street food, and other Asian cuisine will be available.

Opportunities:

The Hongkongers Pop Up Store held in Merseyway in 2022 was a great success in attracting both Hongkongers and locals, as well as visitors from outside of Stockport including cities like Liverpool, Nottingham, Leeds, London and Birmingham. The proposed Full Moon Festival will be a great opportunity to promote the Merseyway shopping mall and its shops and eateries in the area.

A first outdoor cultural festival of the Hongkongers of this scale in Greater Manchester would be a demonstration of cultural diversity in Stockport to the society as well as to Hongkongers near and far. It would definitely help to draw Stockport into the map of Hongkongers in the UK and help to promote the images and stories of Stockport as a new destination for Hong Kong comers and visitors.

Organizers and Previous Experience:

The festival is organized by a group of Hongkonger organisations in Manchester area.

1. Stockport Hongkongers Community Interest Group is a local community group focusing at serving Hongkongers in Stockport for their wellbeing and adaptation in the local society. It helped in co-organising the HKers Pop-Up Stores besides holding various types of community activities including festive gatherings, seminars and handicraft workshop, cooking class and regular elderly meetings.
2. Yellow Econ-Circle Manchester is a platform containing enterprises in Greater Manchester, members including Kayztyle (from Hong Kong since 2015), Asgard Groceries at Altrincham (Start-up of the year 2023) and other Hongkonger businesses of various product nature and businesses scales. It thus has the edge in organising market activities such as the HKers Pop-Up Stores, Hong Kong Food Festival at Bury Market, and
3. Salford Hongkongers Community Interest Company based in Salford Manchester, has received funding from various grants and well experienced in organising various types of events and activities for the purposes of serving Hongkongers in the UK, and promoting Hong Kong culture and its integration in the local society. Its musical events such as traditional music sharing at the People’s History Museum and Hong Kong Music Meet Night series have earned a lot of positive feedback and popularity.

Conclusion:

The proposed Hong Kong Full Moon Festival in Stockport is a great opportunity for Hongkongers to represent their culture and identity while the local community will have the chance to experience Hong Kong culture and hospitality. As for Great Manchester’s Town of Culture, it is also an excellent showcase for Stockport to demonstrate its cultural diversity, community integration, and ethnic acceptance. We sincerely believe that the Full Moon Festival would turned out to be a success for all the parties.