Before electricity was invented, farmers in peak harvest season worked beyond sunset with help from the light of the full moon. The eponymous “harvest moon” arrives closest to the autumn equinox each year, sitting low in the sky. For many Asian cultures, this moon extends beyond agricultural significance and represents a time for community.
On September 26, the Rochester chapter of Asian Pacific American Public Affairs (APAPA) will host the Harvest Moon Festival, its third iteration since the inaugural event in 2023 (Young Asians of Rochester hosted a similar festival in 2025).
Attendees of the festival can expect a day of cultural performances, family friendly activities, storytelling and a festive marketplace featuring community organizations, local AAPI artists and AAPI food.
“Harvest Moon is a celebration of culture, community and the growing AAPI presence in Rochester,” said Joanna Ra, APAPA president and Harvest Moon Festival chair. “We want everyone to feel welcome and be part of it.”
According to 2020 census data, around 33,000 members of the AAPI community live in Monroe County. In New York State, the Asian American population grew by nearly 38% between 2010 and 2020. Within that same time frame, the AAPI population in the town of Henrietta grew more than 75%.
“Asian Americans are one of the most diverse groups ethnically, linguistically and in religious practice,” said Christina Lee, a WXXI trustee and director of Global Education and International Services at Monroe Community College. “The majority of Asian American adults are also foreign-born.”
Rochester and surrounding suburbs have seen an increase in AAPI-owned and inspired businesses in recent years. The Shoppes at Lac De Ville plaza in Brighton feature Korean restaurant Seoul Drop, Goosepark Bubble Tea and Prince & Princess Hair Salon. A few minutes’ drive away is Manting House, an Asian fusion restaurant. Joy Mart is an East Asian market in College Town offering items like Japanese bento boxes and sweet mochi. All of these businesses have opened within the last three years.
The diversity of the AAPI community will be reflected in the many vendors at the Harvest Moon Festival. When it comes to food and beverage, attendees can choose from over 16 businesses representing cuisines from Southeast Asia, East Asia and South Asia, and the few non-AAPI food vendors will include an Asian-inspired dish on their menu.
“For a lot of AAPI cultures, food is our love language. It’s very meaningful and deep on a very personal level for many of us,” said Aurora Tai Prior, Harvest Moon Festival committee member.
With drinks like boba tea and Vietnamese coffee and flavors from Korea, China, Myanmar and the Philippines (to name a few), there won’t be any shortage of snack options. For dessert, those in attendance can indulge in mooncakes — a customary Chinese pastry savored during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Chinese celebration of the harvest moon.
Traditionally, mooncakes are made with a red bean paste filling and salted egg yolk in the center. Cutting into the pastry “looks like the moon in the night sky,” Tai Prior said. “And you’re supposed to share mooncakes with your family and your friends while admiring the moon and making memories together.”
Other AAPI festivals, like the recent Rochester Filipino Festival hosted by the Filipino American Association of Rochester and APAPA’s Lunar New Year Festival coming this winter, are an additional nod to the growing presence of the AAPI community in and around Rochester.
“Celebrating our heritage through cultural festivals … increases a sense of belonging for our growing community,” said Lee, “and also helps us celebrate and recognize the richness of our differences, especially now when things are so divisive in our society.”
Harvest Moon Festival is 12-6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Meridian Centre Park in Brighton. Reserve free tickets online here to attend.
Helana Shumway is a Rochester-based writer who enjoys shedding light on kind humans doing remarkable things in our community. Follow her @helanashum.
