Visiting opera stars highlight Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Festival

The full moon of Sept. 17 marked the start of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a Chinese tradition dating back more than 3,000 years.

As folks back home celebrated the seasonal harvest, a pair of performing artists were headed in this direction.

“The Mid-Autumn Festival usually is a family reunion time,” Marshall Township resident Dave Jiao said. “But they set aside their families and traveled thousands of miles to Pittsburgh to showcase the art of the Kunqu opera.”

Jiao chairs the Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Center, which organizes the annual Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Festival, held on Sept. 21 at Mellon Park in Point Breeze.

Among a full day’s slate of entertainment were performances by Chen Chao and Lin Yujia, highly regarded practitioners of a theatrical style that originated half a millennium ago. They were part of the first professional cultural delegation from China to attend the festival in Pittsburgh since the covid-19 pandemic.

Kunqu opera, which gained popularity during China’s Ming dynasty of the 14th through 17th centuries, combines distinctive music, dance and costumes to cover various themes reflecting nation’s history and culture.

Chao and Yujia are members of the Kunshan Contemporary Kunqu Opera Theater, based in the city where the art form began.

The Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Festival began with welcoming remarks by Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, followed by an afternoon of nearly three dozen individuals and groups giving musical performances and martial arts exhibitions.

All the while, vendors and exhibitors from throughout the region staffed a variety of booths, including those serving food and drinks.

Some 5,000 people were expected to attend the Western Pennsylvania Chinese community’s largest event of the year.

“We feel proud to have all the community together and to provide the opportunity for all Pittsburgh residents to celebrate with us,” said Jiao, who in his professional life is president of DaDao Risk Solutions in Ross.

The nonprofit Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Center promotes the awareness of Chinese culture and appreciation of cultural diversity, facilitates assimilation of Chinese immigrants into the Pittsburgh community, and supports relations between Pittsburgh and China.

For more information, visit pghccc.org.