Moon Festival held in Flushing

Festivities in Flushing for the annual Moon Festival began at 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 29 with a three-hour kite-flying contest and ended with a colorful fireworks display late in the evening.
In between, thousands of attendants marched through downtown Flushing, rode in a hot air balloon and enjoyed a number of traditional music and dance performances by the Korean Traditional Percussion Drum Group - Han Ool - and the New Jersey Youth Asian Drum and Dance Troupe.
The seventh annual event in Queens, held at Kissena Park and the Queens Botanical Garden, celebrates the fall harvest and the biggest, brightest moon.
According to legend, once per year, sun god Yang visits his wife, the moon goddess Yin, and that is why the moon is so full. The Moon Fest is also called the Mid-Autumn or Mooncake Festival - Asian celebrants often nosh on mooncakes, a traditional pastry.

-Christina Santucci