Lowell Arts! Saturday, September 29th, noon – 7 pmTHIS EVENT IS FREE TO THE PUBLIC!

Program of the day:

Plein Air Art in Lowell, noon – 6 pm

Market Mills Courtyard, 243 Market Street

In connection with Lowell Open Studios, 20 local painters, photographers, and crafters will be working outdoors. Lowell singers/songwriters Jay Broyer, Brian Bergeron, Christopher Michaud will accompany the artists at work.

Chinese Moon Festival, 4 pm – 7 pm

Market Mills Courtyard, 243 Market Street

Experience a dragon dance, attend a fashion show with traditional Chinese costumes, enjoy dancers, musicians and martial arts practitioners to celebrate the first Chinese Moon Festival in Downtown Lowell! Join us to eat the traditional moon cake and stay for a whole free Chinese buffet dinner!

The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. It's also known as the Mid-autumn Festival and is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese. The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that a beautiful woman named Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems. The moon cake is the food for the Moon Festival.

Program

Dance & Music Performances, 4 pm – 5 pm, Market Mills Courtyard

4:00 Lion Dance

4:10 Dance of Happiness: Chinese Folk Dance

4:20 Fashion Walk: Traditional Chinese Dress Qi Pao (Cheongsam)

4:30 Chinese Martial Arts

4:40 A time to celebrate: Chinese Folk/Rock Dance

4:50 Mount Everest: Tibet Folk Dance

5:00 Traditional Chinese Instruments

5:15 Joyful Drum Melody: Traditional Chinese Drum

Moon Cake Ceremony, 5 pm – 6 pm, Market Mills Courtyard

Family and kids will celebrate the festivity with the traditional cake.

The Dragon dance performance will conclude the night.

Chinese Dinner Buffet, 6 pm – 7 pm, ALL Gallery, Market Mills Courtyard

General Public and Chinese students from UMass and MCC and their families will gather together to taste traditional Chinese food.

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Chinese Moon Festival Celebration

Program Details

1)      Lion Dance

In the dance, a team of Chinese people carry the lion costume. The lead dancers lift, dip, thrust, and sweep the head. The dance is traditionally accompanied by gongs, drums and firecrackers, representing the descent of good luck

2)      Dance of Happiness: Chinese Folk Dance

---From The Cambridge Center for Chinese Culture

The dancers are dressed with traditional clothes based on traditional folk stories and perform for harvests and celebrations

3)      Fashion Walk: Traditional Chinese Dress Qi Pao (Cheongsam)

---From Mulan Art Troup

The cheongsam is a female dress with distinctive Chinese features and enjoys a growing popularity in the international world of high fashion.

4)      Chinese Martial Arts

                                 ----From Asian Cultural Center Dragon Club

Chinese Martial Arts are one of the typical demonstrations of traditional Chinese culture. It is a sport which utilizes both brawn and brain to enhance spirituality, righteousness and virtue.

5) A time to celebrate: Chinese Folk/Rock Dance

----From the Cambridge Center for Chinese Culture

6)      Mount Everest: Tibet Folk Dance

---From Mulan Art Troupe

This Dance Troupe is performing dances and songs with Tibetan traditional costumes

7)      Traditional Chinese Instruments：

---By ZhanTao Lin, a Professional Musician

Zhantao Lin is a professional musician and music educator from China. Since his immigration to US, Mr. Lin has performed broadly in the New England Area including Sanders Theater at Harvard University, MIT, Boston University, Museum of Fine Arts and Lincoln Center of New York and Creative Exchanges at Peabody Essex Museum: as part of Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Project exchange program.

 A:     Horse Racing: Er Hu* Solo: This musical piece shows a lively image of horse racing.

The composer is Huang, Hai- huai, a famous Chinese musician whose musical piece is about horse racing in Mongolia because of its history. Horse Racing is a very important activity in Mongolia since winners receive prizes and are treated and honored as "Heroes."

*Er Hu -----This 1,500-year-old two stringed fiddle like instrument is one of the most popular and versatile Chinese instruments. The Er hu has a long neck, bent at the end. The bow is played in between the strings and the sound box. It is used for both solo and in accompanying a Chinese orchestra. 

B: Wind blows while walking on bridge: One string* Solo

*One string----One string is a Chinese instrument made by wood. It can reach a four octave range.  

C: The sound of strike, the millet in the village: Bamboo Pipe Qin * Solo

                                    Clouds follow the moon: Bamboo Pipe Qin Solo

*Bamboo Pipe Qin---- is composed of bamboo pipes originally from Guanxi, China.

8)      Joyful Drum Melody: Traditional Chinese Drum

---From Cambridge Center for Chinese Culture