On Friday, October 18, 2024, the Favoriten office building was transformed into a lively meeting place for cultures. In the ballroom of the district office, over 200 guests celebrated the “Asia in Vienna” festival organized by the “Asian Community in Austria” association. Among them was Vice Mayor Christoph Wiederkehr, who welcomed the celebrants together with the district leader of Favoriten Marcus Franz.
“The festival in Favoriten brings people from all over Asia together. It is a symbol of our city, where diversity and togetherness go hand in hand. This diversity means that people from different countries and cultures live and work together in our city. And this is exactly where Vienna’s strength lies: our solidarity despite the differences,” said city councilor Christoph Wiederkehr in his welcome.
The “Asia in Vienna” festival has been an integral part of Vienna’s cultural calendar for many years and attracts numerous visitors every year. This year, Thanksgiving is the focus of the festival. Thanksgiving festivals are celebrated in many Asian cultures, with local differences. In China, for example, the Thanksgiving Festival is also known as the Moon Festival, in Korea as Chuseok, and in Thailand as Loy Krathong. It is a festival that celebrates family, gratitude and the harmonious connection between heaven, earth and humanity.
District leader of Favoriten Marcus Franz also emphasized the importance of the event: “This year’s ‘Asia in Vienna’ festival is dedicated to the Thanksgiving and Moon Festival and is taking place in Favoriten for the first time this year. The moon symbolizes what we have in common at this family celebration – and it was precisely in this spirit of togetherness that all participants from a wide variety of Asian countries such as Nepal, Taiwan, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Japan, Cambodia, China and Vietnam found themselves wonderful together.”
This year’s festival offered a varied program. In addition to culinary Asian specialties, there was a diverse stage program with, among other things, the very popular Pogo Pogo line dance, a Chinese moonlight choir and traditional Uyghur dances.
Over 32,500 Viennese have Asian origins. Elena Nguyen, President of the “Asian Community in Austria” association, which organizes the “Asia in Vienna” festival, was happy about the many visitors and explained the motivation behind the festival: “With our festival we want to maintain Asian traditions and at the same time build a bridge between cultures. It is an opportunity to celebrate together, learn from each other and strengthen the community in Vienna.”
Press photos Information about this release will soon be available at: https://www.wien.gv.at/presse/bilder
OTS ORIGINAL TEXT PRESS RELEASE UNDER THE EXCLUSIVE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SENDER FOR CONTENT – WWW.OTS.AT | NRK