(FOX40.COM) — Thousands of people across our community joined together along Power Inn Road Saturday for the Mid-Autumn Festival to celebrate Asian culture — and to light the sky with beautiful traditional lanterns.

Countries all throughout Asia celebrate the mid-autumn festival each year… And here in Northern California, this event is expected to draw in more than 10,000 attendees over the course of two days.

For Kevin Phan, CEO of the Conference of Asian American Professionals, this is about more than event planning. He said he wanted to bring a piece of Vietnam to Sacramento.

“I want to keep this tradition alive,” Phan said.

According to some attendees and performers, his mission was successful.

“It’s really, like, warm and welcoming so far,” an attendee said.

For Katie Phan, this event takes her back to her childhood.

“I remember I was… with my friend… lighting up and going around the neighborhood at night, eating mooncakes… under the round moon,” Phan said.

At Saturday’s event, people sang together, danced and bonded. Around 30 organizers with CAAPS and 200 volunteers brought this event to life.

“I’m excited for the moment where we can light lanterns together, so it’s even more, more amazing at night,” Katie Phan said. “Lanterns in our culture represent our hope, unity and the new beginnings.”

This event allowed attendees to taste the culture, too. Jonathan Lam and Cynthia Aung-Lam with Pegasus Bakery and Cafe said food can help foster the spirit, unity and tradition this event is all about.

“We have coconut cream buns, the mini size,” Cynthia said while showcasing her team’s wide array of baked goods. “We have the red bean mini moon cake. This is the matcha mini moon cake…”

The duo described how grateful they are to be a part of event’s like Saturday’s.

“It makes us feel very blessed, actually, to be able to share culture and just keep keep it alive,” Cynthia Aung-Lam said.

It is free to attend the event. Organizers told FOX40 they want to share the beauty of their heritage and history — giving Sacramento residents, what they hope, will be the experience of a lifetime.

“I’m a proud Vietnamese American,” Vincent Phan, CAAPS’s Young Professional Alliance Chairman, said. “I was born and raised this country, but obviously my parents, they’re refugees from a different country. So to have an event of this caliber, this nature, to preserve Vietnamese culture heritage means it means a lot to me.”

If you missed Saturday’s event, there’s still time to experience the festivities! The festival goes from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

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