One of my friends called me this weekend to ask me a question about Asian cultures. They wanted to know about the "Asian Moon Festival." I laughed.

"Okay," I said. "But can I ask you about Creole traditions first?"

"Why would I know anything about Creole traditions?"

"The Creole people are American. Why wouldn't you know everything about Creole people?"

"Very funny, Alan. What's the Asian Moon Festival?"

They wanted to know because the Springs Preserve, which is a local 180-acre cultural institution with galleries and colorful desert botanical gardens, was hosting an Asian Moon Festival. I think that is great.

The festival featured arts and crafts, food concessions, and live entertainment like drummers, lion dance performances, and storytellers. It reminds people that Asian cultures have much to offer. However, there is no Asian Moon Festival in Asia.

The Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Chinese Moon Festival, known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.

One of my favorite stories about the Chinese Moon Festival is that Chang'e, the beautiful young wife of the immortal Houyi, flew to the moon and she still lives there. You can see her dancing on the moon during the festival, still hoping to one day find her way back to Houyi. This is why lanterns are sometimes lit and may be why the Chinese people mark this special day for family reunions too. They get together, watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing or read poems.

Anyway, this popular harvest festival is celebrated mostly by Chinese and Vietnamese people (who have a slightly different legend), and it dates back over 3,000 years to China's Shang Dynasty. It was first called Zhongqiu Jie, which does not mean Moon Festival. It means Mid-Autumn Festival. In Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, it is sometimes called a Lantern Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival Is Not Yi Peng.

However, all of these festivals are very different and none should be confused with Thailand's Yi Peng Festival, which will begin this year on Oct. 27 and end on Nov. 2. I will share some of the Yi Peng Festival history as we get closer. If you have never heard of it, it is the Thai festival people associate with Lanna-style lanterns filling the sky.

My friend took her family to the Asian Moon Festival with a little better understanding. She called me later to say they had a good time, with her son and nephew enjoying stories, dragon dancers, and Chinese food (but not as good as Las Vegas restaurants like Kung Fu Plaza, of course!). Her daughter even made a paper lantern.

I think it is a great honor that the Springs Preserve would host such an event. Asian cultures offer rich and diverse histories. Perhaps one day, we will see Americans embrace the varied differences of our heritages much like they do European festivities.