Family Fun Mid-Autumn Celebration

September 24, 2023
Family-friendly event
Tickets $10

23/24 Season

Celebrate the Mid-Autumn moon with an afternoon of fun activities for the family.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is often referred to as the “Mooncake Festival” because of the delectable treat that takes center stage. These sweet pastries symbolize unity and family togetherness with their rich fillings and intricate designs. To learn more of these traditions in a fun, playful way, bring your whole family to Gateway Theatre for a joyful experience listening to a live reading of Legend of the Whooshhh.

In this entertaining tale, three chum salmon, Eunice, RoRo, and Mabel head upstream from the ocean to their home. With rising temperatures and lowering water levels, the Three Chums rely on their enduring friendships, new connections, the myth of Chang Er and the legend of The Whooshhh – the salmon cannon- to get them safely home. The audio play will be brought to life by local Asian artists Stephanie Wong, Angela Chu, Harmony Yen, Raugi Yu, and Cindy Kao. Created by Five Blessings Collective and co-presented with Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre, this audio play immerses young audiences and their families to enjoy and explore the wonders and meanings behind the traditional Chinese festival in a fun and entertaining way.

Following the live reading, there will be themed crafts and a special mooncake to take home!

Limited spots available – get your tickets today and celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with us!

About Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid Autumn Moon Festival honours the full harvest moon as a symbol of peace, prosperity and togetherness — all good things to celebrate! It occurs on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month which happens sometime between mid September and early October. This is when the moon is at its fullest after the autumnal equinox. It is a popular, happy time of year when families gather to share food, admire the full moon, light lanterns and eat mooncakes. 

TICKET PRICES

All guests aged 3 and up will need to purchase a ticket. Seating is limited. Children aged 2 and under do not need to buy a ticket if they sit on an adult’s lap. If you are bringing children aged 2 and under who do not need their own seats, please let us know by emailing boxoffice@gatewaytheatre.com. If you wish to have a physical seat for them, please purchase a ticket.

Admission:
Ages 2 and under – Free
Ages 3 and up – $10 per person (includes $2.10 ticketing fee)

  • Audience Considerations

    Recommended for ages 6 to 12, though all ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by a parent/guardian at all times.

Five Blessings Collective

Derek Chan

Bio

Derek Chan

Derek Chan (陳嘉昊) grew up in colonial Hong Kong and currently lives and works on the stolen and ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, colonially known as Vancouver. An award-winning multilingual playwright, director, translator, and performer, he is the Managing Artistic Director of Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre. Derek was an artist in residence at the National Arts Centre English Theatre Department in the 2019/20 season, developing yellow objects, an installation-exhibition in support of the ongoing pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. He was the co-recipient of the 2021 Simon Fraser University FCAT Young Alumni Award for his work at rice & beans theatre.

Jasmine Chen

Bio

Jasmine Chen

Jasmine is a second-generation Taiwanese-Singaporean immigrant artist based in the unceded lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaɬ Nations and T’karonto.

Jasmine’s work as a director, performer, educator and creator has engaged with communities from coast to coast in repertory festivals, indie theatres, regional and outdoor theatres. She creates multilingual interdisciplinary work that pushes for linguistic and formal diversity.

Jasmine is a recipient of the Gina Wilkinson Award, the Jon Kaplan Canadian Stage Performer Award, and the Stratford Festival Jean Gascon Award. She has been featured in CBC Arts, The Georgia Straight, NOW Magazine, and the Vancouver Sun. msjasminechen.com.

Howard Dai

Bio

Howard Dai

Howard Dai is a Taiwanese actor and theatre artist based in so-called Vancouver whose work has been seen across Canada. His performances and creations have existed in theatre, films, public spaces, Zoom screens, Google Sheets, automated phone calls, interactive websites, and virtual reality.  Howard was the Assistant Director and a swing performer for the world premiere of Forgiveness (Arts Club Theatre & Theatre Calgary). He was the 2022 digital-artist-in-residence with PuSh Festival and Royal Court Theatre with his new play 菠蘿麵包Pineapple Bun. Howard is an Associate Artist with rice & beans theatre, and holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU School for the Contemporary Arts.  www.howarddai.com

Robyn Jacob

Bio

Robyn Jacob

Robyn Jacob is a pianist, singer, composer and educator living in and working from the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm and Səl’il’wətaʔ Nations. She has toured Canada and internationally with her avant-pop project Only A Visitor, who have been recently brought on to the Mint Records label. Her compositions include commissions by Third Coast Percussion, Architek Percussion, So Percussion, and Little Chamber Music, and collaborations with visual artists and instrument makers. In 2020 she celebrated the release of Earth Leaps Up on the label elsewhere music with her duo The Giving Shapes in collaboration with harpist Elisa Thorn. Since 2012 she has been part of the multi-disciplinary collective Publik Secrets, currently artists in residence at the Hadden Park Field House with the City of Vancouver. In 2013 she toured Bali with Gamelan Gita Asmara, and has since been co-leading Gamelan Bike Bike.

Nancy Tam

Bio

Nancy Tam

Sound Artist, 譚亦斯 (Nancy Tam), works and lives on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Her practice is collaborative, often models after devised theatrical processes. Nancy works transdisciplinarily fusing sound and performance as primary media with a specialization in spatialized multi-channel sound performance for live and fixed media. Her current research triangulates between sound, space, and body to investigate notions of horizontality and peripherality in the context of immersive spatial and sonic designs. Nancy has a penchant toward listening to quiet sounds and observing quotidian performances. Her work is form-bending and dramaturgically rigorous. Nancy is a founding member of the Vancouver-based interdisciplinary performance collective A Wake of Vultures as well as the Toronto-based Toy Piano Composers collective. She is an award-winning composer. Her compositions, audio walks, performances, and collaborations have toured in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Norway, Hong Kong, the U.S. and throughout Canada.

About Five Blessings Collective

Five Blessings is composed of five Chinese Canadian artists from disciplines spanning theatre, sound and music, movement and performance. We are Nancy Tam, Derek Chan, Robyn Jacob, Jasmine Chen, and Howard Dai–five first and second-generation Hong Kong and Taiwanese settlers to Turtle Island. Our work celebrates the complexities found within stories and traditions from the Chinese diaspora through songs, audio plays, film, and stageworks. We are the creators of Double Happiness which includes the multimedia song cycle “Detour This Way” and its companion short film A Little Detour. www.happinesshappiness.ca

About A Year of Blessings

A Year of Blessings is a five-part audio series created by Five Blessings Collective, Episodes in this series each celebrate a traditional Chinese festival. Through the power of storytelling, A Year of Blessings transports young listeners into a world brimming with cultural richness and vibrancy to captivate young minds and ignite their curiosity. By embracing these stories, we aim to instill in our young audience, their families, and schools an appreciation for diverse cultural practices and a deeper understanding of the values they represent.