Gateway Theatre is celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival, with family-fun activities and a special live reading of The Legend of Whooshhh. The Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most important and popular Chinese culture celebrations in Chinese culture, coincides with the September Full Moon.
The public is invited to join Gateway Theatre to kick off its 2023/2024 season with a live event to celebrate the popular holiday. Sunday, September 24, Gateway hosts its Family Fun Mid-Autumn Celebration and an exclusive live reading of The Legend of Whooshhh, Episode 5 of A Year of Blessings audio play series.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival honours the full harvest moon as a symbol of prosperity, togetherness, and homecoming. Families gather to share food, admire the full moon, light lanterns, and enjoy mooncakes,” says Yanting Qiu, Gateway Theatre’s Community Engagement Producer. “Come join us for a day full of fun activities and mooncakes for the whole family.”
Kids and parents will enjoy the entertaining audio play reading of The Legend of Whooshhh, a playful story of three chum salmon, Eunice, RoRo, and Mabel heading upstream from the ocean to their home. With rising temperatures and lowering water levels, the Three Chums rely on their enduring friendships, new connections, the myth of Chang Er and the legend of The Whooshhh – the salmon cannon- to get them safely home. The audio play will be brought to life by local Asian artists Stephanie Wong, Angela Chu, Harmony Yen, Raugi Yu, and Cindy Kao. Created by Five Blessings Collective and co-produced with Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre, this audio play immerses young audiences and their families to enjoy and explore the wonders and meanings behind the traditional Chinese festival in a fun and entertaining way.
Following the live reading of the play, gather in the lobby to make your own lanterns or other themed crafts. Before leaving make sure to collect a delicious mooncake to eat or take home, from Gateway audience favourite, Anna’s Cake House.
Adds Qiu, “we hosted a similar event earlier this year celebrating Lunar New Year, which was a huge hit! As the event was sold-out, we highly recommend getting tickets early.”
Gateway Theatre’s Mid-Autumn Festival celebration is aimed at ages 6-12, but all children accompanied by an adult are welcome. Tickets are available for $10 each, all guests aged 3 and up require a ticket, children 2 and under are free if they share an adult’s seat. For those bringing children aged 2 and under who do not need their own seats, please email boxoffice@gatewaytheatre.com. Patrons have the option of selecting the morning event starting at 10:00 am or the afternoon event starting at 1:00 pm.
For more information on Gateway Theatre’s Mid-Autumn Festival and the reading of The Legend of Whooshhh, visit gatewaytheatre.com/events/family-fun-mid-autumn-celebration