On Saturday, 24 September, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival Basel will once again offer a varied and spectacular programme for families with children, anyone who is interested in China and fans of Chinese music, acrobatics, dance and martial arts. “Our city partnership has spawned countless joint projects and collaborations which become visible to the population at the Mid-Autumn Festival,” explains Sabine Horvath, Head of External Affairs and Marketing of the Canton of Basel-Stadt. The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival Basel is organised by a working group consisting of representatives of the local Chinese community and the Division of External Affairs and Marketing at the Department of Presidential Affairs.

Multi-faceted programme including highlights from Shanghai

A particular highlight of this year’s event will be special acts from Shanghai at 5.30 p.m. Sent over by our sister city as a guest contribution, the groups of professional artists will dazzle the audience with folk dances, a magic show and an unusual tai-chi and calligraphy performance. Early risers can attend a ‘Quigong’ meditation exercise on the Pfalz at 7 a.m. The circus-fun workshop kicks off at 1.45 p.m. Between midday and the highlight of the festival, the traditional dragon dance at 7.45 p.m., a number of miscellaneous activities will take place, ranging from noodle pulling at 5 p.m. to the traditional lion dance at 5.30 p.m. and the chopstick dance. Due to this guest performance, noodle pulling will be moved forward from 5.40 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.

There will also be impressive martial art performances and musical highlights such as ‘Chinese songs with piano’ or ‘Chinese string instruments’. Numerous song and dance acts will fill the square with a festive atmosphere. In addition, food stalls will provide a variety of Chinese delicacies, including traditional moon cakes ‘made in Basel’. In the run-up to the Festival, a workshop at WBS Leonhard was once again imparting the art of moon cake baking in preparation of the Mid-Autumn Festival. On top of this, there will be lantern making and Chinese calligraphy activities.

Project in the context of the Basel-Shanghai city partnership

This is the seventh time the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival is taking place in Basel. The event arose from the city partnership between Basel and Shanghai which was concluded in 2007. On 2 September, the President of the Government of the Canton of Basel-Stadt Guy Morin and the Deputy Secretary of the CPC Shanghai Committee YING Yong signed the fourth consecutive Memorandum of understanding on further collaboration between the city partners for the years 2017 to 2019 at Basel’s city hall.