Vietnamese Connections, a program run by Faith Action International House, recently brought together seven different Asian cultures to celebrate the Harvest Moon Festival.
A trio of Chinese dragons, following the beat of a deeply throttled drum, opened the event to a crowd of hundreds. Flashes of emboldened reds, greens and gold lit up the center aisle as 12 young men bobbed up and down and weaved back and forth with only their feet exposed.
The dragons paved the way for a celebratory flag ceremony and parade. Children who made their own lanterns or bought lanterns at the festival fell in line behind the flag that represented their culture of origin.
The U.S. flag led the pack, followed by those of China, India, Montagnard, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Performers in traditional garb carrying flags came to the event to sing songs in their native tongue, share traditional dance, and entertain the crowd.
In an event press release, organizers said that the festival has been growing steadily each year. Vietnamese Connections organizes the event in cooperation with local sponsors like the Greensboro Coliseum so that the event can remain free of charge.
Vendors offered festival-goers information about world religions, health care, classes to improve English as a second language, and other tools.
Vietnamese Connections works to bridge the gap be-tween Vietnam-ese communities and others living in the greater Greens-boro area.
Greensboro Mayor Keith Holliday greeted gala attendees by saying that the Gate city is fortunate to have been blessed with a rich Asian culture and that he is proud that they have decided to call Greensboro home. A translator repeated the words in Vietnam-ese, pausing briefly for applause before introducing the first of 19 performances.
The Harvest Moon Festival is a vision of diversity and unity. Folk heritage performers like Vietnamese refugee Ramah Dok were able to highlight a piece of their country’s history along with pieces of their own lives on stage. Dok escaped Vietnam in the 1970’s by passing unseen through territory occupied by the Khmer Rouge. Finding refuge in Thailand, Dok soon began to infuse newly learned Montagnard traditions with his own.
Dok choose to play the T’rong, a traditional Vietnamese instrument for the festival. The instrument’s melody mesmerized the festival audience after only a few notes.
Made from sharpened bamboo tubes, the T’rung’s music might have been discovered accidentally as high and low notes were heard springing forth from the toils of countrymen’s labor. According to legend, field hands hung the sharpened bamboo poles from their waist. As the tubes bumped into each other, a new type of musical principle was born.
Two mallets push out the instrument’s characteristic highs and lows. One can almost hear running water, akin to the streams and waterfalls found in the Vietnamese highlands.
Other riveting cultural performances followed Dok’s. Noteworthy performances were given by the Sao Lao Dancers of North Carolina, who performed The Golden Lotus, five performers who gave a glimpse into Cambodia with The Wishing Dance, Rajen Sukhadia, who displayed India in his version of “O Palen Hare…Nirgun or Nyare”, and the Vietnamese performers who concluded the festival with a Meeting Beneath The Moon.