The Ogden Downtown Alliance and local businesses drew a crowd to the Harvest Moon Celebration Sept. 24 on Historic 25th Street, despite stormy weather that downed trees and destroyed homes in South Ogden and Washington Terrace days before.
“With the weather the last couple of days, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to take my kids,” said Heather Davies, who said she has been bringing her children since her 12-year-old was 4. “But the weather turned out great, and it shows with the amount of people here. … This year it really seems to be one of the biggest yet.”
Harvest Moon, this year especially, attempted to bring not only families together but also promote the local business on Historic 25th Street and in the community.
“Harvest Moon is really awesome for the businesses,” said Kylee Hallows, co-owner of Lavender Vinyl. “It brings people downtown that potentially didn’t know about the businesses. For Lavender Vinyl, it was the second best day of sale that we’ve ever had — aside from our grand opening.”
The Harvest Moon Festival gave Lavender Vinyl, Booked on 25th and The Banyan Collective, which sponsored “VanSessions,” the opportunity to record a new podcast, Print and Vinyl Uncensored.
But what exactly is the Harvest Moon that downtown was celebrating?
In the most generic sense, the Harvest Moon is last full moon before fall officially begins. It falls on the autumn equinox, when there are exactly 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. This year, that day was Sept. 22.
Historically, this day was a day of harvest — hence the name — because of the availability of light during both day and night due to such a large, full moon.
In a much deeper sense, the Harvest Moon has marked a celebration across multiple cultures.
In Pagan ritual, the Harvest Moon marks Mabon, the day in which the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest.
In some Asian cultures, the Harvest Moon is celebrated through the Mid-Autumn Festival, which, much like the Western counterpart, is a celebration of the final harvest through Thanksgiving and togetherness.
It seems that intentionally or unintentionally, the Ogden Downtown Alliance has garnered the spirit of the Harvest Moon and brought it to local businesses.
“(Harvest Moon) is really cool for the community too because all the businesses hang out together, and it’s just kind of like a huge neighborhood party,” Hallows said. “It provides a time for businesses to come together and harvest what they’ve been able to accomplish.”
