OzAsia is the premier South Australian festival that celebrates Australia’s long standing relationship with Asia and its rich legacy of arts, culture, food and tradition. OzAsia is an important landmark on the Adelaide’s event calendar and showcases artistic grandeur of Asia while promoting cooperation between Australia and its Asian counter parts.
OzAsia takes place in September each year and the Oaks Embassy-Adelaide is a choice accommodation option out of Adelaide Hotels CBD if you are visiting particularly for the festival. Each year, the festival focuses on a particular region in Asia; for instance this year’s festival was based on Adelaide’s sister city Shandong Province of China. The festival is a cheerful exchange between Australia and the Asian entity that is being focused, where there’s valuable exchange of culture, values and arts between the countries.
The Moon Lantern Festival is the pinnacle of the OzAsia event and is a definite crowd puller. This is a modern celebration based on an ancient Chinese tradition – a mid-autumn festival celebrating the harvest. This free event has become a major part of the OzAsia Festival, and is held each year in Elder Park.
Because the OzAsia Festival celebrations embrace the rich heritage of Asia, the Moon Lantern Festival includes a blend of traditions and influences from this region. It begins early afternoon with regional food stalls scattered around Elder Park to tempt visitors to try out Asian food and culture. It’s a good idea to come hungry, as you’re bound to find some tasty regional cuisine here. Traditional dance acts, arts and crafts, spiritual activity such as horoscope reading as well as cookery workshops etc. from all parts of Asia are common features at the Moon Lantern Festival.
At dusk a colourful moon lantern parade takes place where hundreds of beautifully crafted flickering lanterns are set afloat casting an eerie light around Elder Park. This is followed by some spectacular fireworks with which the festival comes to a close.
Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry.