Allen Espree and his wife each held a child in one arm and a paper lantern in the other. 

The family of four visited Chùa Hương Đạo, a Buddhist temple located near southeast Fort Worth’s Stop Six neighborhood, for its annual lantern festival Sept. 14. Hundreds of paper lanterns illuminated the temple grounds as the Esprees walked among the waterfalls and statues, watched the lion dance team perform and stopped by vendor tables for food and decorations. 

It’s important to teach his kids about different cultures, Espree said. 

“It’s been enlightening,” Espree said. “It’s always great to not only just be entertained, but to also be inquisitive.” 

The Esprees were one of several families attending the temple’s annual lantern festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival or the Moon Festival. The temple opens its grounds each year as an opportunity for people to learn about East Asian culture and Buddhism. 

The event falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month and is widely celebrated in Vietnam, China, Japan and Korea as a time for families to spend time together when the moon is at its brightest, Sophia Nguyen, a temple patron, said.

“It was one of the sweetest memories that I have with my great-great-grandmother and my grandparents and uncles and aunts,” Nguyen said, recalling the times she celebrated the festival as a child. “And now that I’m older, and I have children of my own, I treasure those memories so much that I’d like for the tradition to continue.” 

Families celebrate the festival by decorating lanterns glowing in the shape of stars or animals, Nguyen said, or, by nibbling on mooncakes, a dessert made of a sweet baked dough filled with a mix of nuts and candied fruits. 

Making events like the Mid-Autumn Festival open to the public is part of the temple’s mission to be a place where people can learn about and experience East Asian culture, Chien Le, secretary for the temple, said. 

“Our temple is a religious organization, but also we want to adapt our culture to the community and bring the culture to the community,” Le said. 

A $150 million, 14-acre expansion of the temple is underway to increase the temple’s capacity to offer sacred teachings of the faith in Fort Worth. Le said he hopes that new stone monuments, called stupas, will arrive in Fort Worth before Vesak, one of the most important Buddhist holidays, in 2025.

Looking ahead, Nguyen said she hopes that the festival can be open for two or three days instead of just one so that more people in the community can come celebrate. 

“I think it’s a sweet tradition that we all can embrace,” Nguyen said. “Not just the Asian people, but I think people from all cultures can embrace this as well.” 

Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org or @marissaygreene. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.