The Stanford Vietnamese Student Association (SVSA) hosted its annual Late Autumn Festival event on Oct. 6, filled with food and music in observation of the mid-autumn festivals celebrated throughout Asia.
The event, held in White Plaza in collaboration with various Asian cultural clubs, featured lantern decorating, a buffet and student performances from campus cultural groups. Aileen Lê ’26, the cultural chair of SVSA, said the organization is a “home away from home.”
“I want to maintain my connection to my culture, especially because I’m away from my family,” Lê said. “I want to find opportunities to bring or share Vietnamese culture with people outside our own ethnic community. It’s a way to share a piece of our parents’ homeland and heritage across the Stanford campus.”
Many Asian communities celebrate mid-autumn festivals in early fall with family and friends. Festivities often include eating moon cakes and fruit to symbolize hope for a better future. In Vietnam specifically, families create star lanterns and children light the lanterns to help Chú Cuoi, a mythical figure, reach the moon.
Lê said SVSA began planning for the festival halfway through the summer, noting that she reached out to collaborate with other campus cultural groups, including Hmong Student Union, Korean Student Association, Lao and Laotian Student Union, Taiwanese Cultural Society and Tibetan Student Union. Each of the groups staffed a table at the festival, distributing snacks, drinks and candy from their respective cultures.
San Jose has the largest Vietnamese population of any city outside of Vietnam. Local Vietnamese restaurants were invited to serve food at the event, including Cha Ca Long Phung and Banh Beo ToLan.
Hannah Gao ’28 and Ryan Rong ’28, both Chinese students, attended the festival together and said they enjoyed the food and the lion dancers. Gao spent most of the event painting a lantern, inspired by traditional Chinese art, which drew many compliments from passersby.
“I’m definitely glad to touch a paintbrush, as I haven’t in a while,” Gao said. “It’s so nice to have cultural celebrations and feel more at home.”
Rong painted his lantern red, an auspicious color in Chinese culture. The lanterns are sent into rivers or the sky, signifying the delivery of one’s wishes to heaven. Rong said there are similarities between the Vietnamese and Chinese mid-autumn festivals.
“It’s nice to have an actual celebration here at Stanford, and be able to connect to these cultures and do fun things,” Rong said.
Various performance clubs charmed the crowd with their performances at the festival, including Stanford Lion Dance, Common Origins, Stanford Wushu Club, Kayumanggi and Múa Lac Hông. Judy Liu ’26 performed at the festival as part of a duo from the Stanford Wushu Club.
Wushu is “a performance-based martial art with stabs, kicks and punches,” Liu said. “Over time it has evolved and become more of a performance sport.” Wushu training includes doing cardio and strength-building exercises.
Liu has been doing Wushu since she was eleven years old. Dressed in a silk uniform with traditional embroidery and sparkles, she elicited loud cheers and applause from the crowd during her performance.
Afterward, Liu and her partner Jean Hoang ’27, both of whom are on the U.S. Wushu Team, performed a choreographed “fight” with fans and swords. Hoang competed in the Pan Am Championships last summer and won a silver medal against other athletes from North and South America. Liu competed in the World Wushu Championships alongside elite athletes from all over the globe.
Lê said she was happy to see great turnout at the event.
“The main takeaway is not only sharing a piece of Vietnamese culture with everyone on campus but also cultivating a very multicultural and collaborative environment,” she said. “It unifies ethnic groups on campus and leads us about our own culture with one another, reflected here today with the tables and performers.”