On October 6, Milton Academy hosted the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet in the Farokhzad Mathematics Center (FMC) for the first time. The Mid-Autumn Festival is an East Asian tradition that celebrates family and reunion under the brightest full moon of the year, which is on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar.

Asian culture clubs Tang, Asian Society, and Hallyu—representing Chinese, pan-Asian, and Korean cultures, respectively—collaborated to organize the banquet. The event proved to be popular, as 150 people–the maximum number that could be accommodated–signed up, including students, staff, and their kids.

“It was the most attended cultural event I’ve ever been to at Milton,” observed Gustavo dos Reis ‘26, who comes from São Paulo, Brazil and takes Chinese at Milton.

For many international students who used to observe the tradition with family and friends back home, the event was an opportunity to continue celebrating their heritage at Milton. Hallyu board member Philip Suk ‘27, for example, “felt that this event made [him] feel at home and closer to [his] culture with the feast and the community of loved ones around him.”

Suk, along with ten other students, agreed that the food was a major part of the banquet. The event offered food ranging from savory to spicy to sweet. Dos Reis noted that “[the] amount of food at the event was above the average amount they usually serve.” Spicy fried chicken, fried rice, lo mien, moon cakes, and dango were just a few of the food options available. The meal was catered by Cathay Pacific Quincy and bb.q Chicken.

The success of the banquet originated from the months of planning by all of the clubs involved. “Each club sort of managed their own subsection of the events,” said Tang Co-Head Jennifer Li ‘26. “For example, Asian Society helped a lot with decorations, Astronomy Club supplied the telescopes, and all the clubs collaborated with Dr. Lawlor to put this together. Planning such a large event was not a simple task.”

Li explained that the clubs’ first meeting took place in the spring of last year, when they brainstormed potential ideas. Later, two additional meetings were held to set everything in place.

As the leader of a smaller club, Hallyu Co-Head Elizabeth Sim ‘27 said, “working with bigger clubs was an eye-opening experience.” She explained that she particularly enjoyed learning from the leadership of the other Co-Heads. Furthermore, as a third culture kid who was born in Beijing but is Korean, Sim said that “[it] was great to see both Chinese and Korean culture be celebrated during the festival.” Chuseok, the Korean Mid-Autumn Festival, revolves around family, food, and paying respects to ancestors. Songpyeon is a staple in this holiday, a rice cake shaped like a half moon. They often have sweet fillings, such as sesame seeds, honey, or red bean paste.

Aside from celebrating with traditional food, the club Co-Heads also presented a Mid-Autumn festival slideshow, sharing that the holiday honors the full moon with family and celebrates a bountiful harvest. Storytelling is a central part of this holiday, which revolves around Chinese Mythology. According to the legend, Chang’e was a goddess who was forced to flee to the moon after drinking an immortality elixir. Because of her sacrifice, Chinese people often eat mooncakes, which come in a variety of fillings ranging from lotus seed, red bean paste, jujube, matcha, or even chocolate.

As part of the programming, Asian Society Co-Head HT Xue ‘26 also read a classic Chinese poem, Li Bai’s “Thoughts on a Quiet Night”, which describes how the poet reminisces about home while gazing at the moon. Alisha Xu ‘27 felt that the poem was very fitting for the event, and she added that “the poem was meaningful to [her] because it reminded [her] of reading Chinese literature with [her] grandfather in my childhood”

Li concluded, “[the culture clubs] wanted to recreate the semblance of union and community associated with this holiday.” In many ways, the banquet offered just that, bringing together students, faculty, and families to honor traditions and create new memories.