It’s the Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated by Chinese people around the world – including in the UK’s northern city of Manchester, which has one of the country’s largest Chinese populations. CGTN’s Michael Marillier went along to sample the Mancunian mooncakes.
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00:00The Mid-Autumn Festival is many things.
00:03Dance.
00:05Martial Arts.
00:07Games.
00:09And of course, moons.
00:12Really big moons.
00:14But above all, it's a celebration of unity.
00:17Highlighting that no matter where we are,
00:20we're all under the same moon.
00:23The idea behind this festival is really important in today's world.
00:27It's about building connections.
00:29Not just when we're close together,
00:31but when we find ourselves far apart.
00:34John Currieu is one of the performers at this year's event.
00:38She plays the moon goddess.
00:41Family is a very important part in our life.
00:44So I'm very proud that we have a festival
00:47that celebrates a family reunion
00:50to remind each other we should be with our family.
00:55This is a Chinese festival,
00:58but it's making its mark here in the United Kingdom.
01:01We need to have these society-to-society relationships
01:05and people-to-people relationships.
01:07So I think these kinds of events are good.
01:10I love the performances, especially the dance.
01:14That was very vibrant.
01:16And the little parade that we all did.
01:18And the fact that you get to join in as well.
01:20It really shows that it's a great community.
01:22A festival isn't a festival without snacks.
01:26Mooncakes are a big part of the celebration.
01:29A reminder that relationships feed our souls.
01:32And that's the message officials are hoping to send.
01:36I think this is a very, very good occasion
01:38for people here in this city and the country in the UK
01:43for people to know this Mid-Autumn Festival,
01:47the origins, all the festivities, the meanings.
01:51I think this is good for people in this country
01:55to understand Chinese culture and Chinese tradition.
01:58The UK may be thousands of kilometres from China,
02:02but it's not hard to see the connections.
02:05You just have to look up.
02:07Michael Merilia, CGTN, Manchester.