This year's Moon Festival celebrates its Chinese roots with a dash of Kiwi culture at Palmerston North's Regent on Broadway on Sunday.

This is the city's fourth time marking the festival, organised by the Palmerston North Chinese Students' and Scholars' Association.

The celebration was started because of the many Chinese students and immigrants living in Palmerston North.

However, association chairman Bochuan Dai said he hoped to see people of all ethnicities turn up to the festival.

Alongside the many traditional Chinese performances on Sunday is a Kiwi-based brass band.

"We are bringing our local community together, no matter what their ethnicity," Dai said.

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In China, the festival is about reunions and is a time for families to come together and celebrate by eating moon cake.

"People will get homesick because they will look at the moon and think: 'My family can see it and I can see it, but I'm still far away'," he said.

The festival was fast becoming a tradition for Chinese students to celebrate their country and invite friends from other cultures.

"We also have local families here, so if we get them to come too it's all very meaningful," Dai said.

He hopes the festival will be the opening act to the upcoming Chinese Language Week and will get people interested in Chinese culture.

The association will hold a small exhibition in the Regent foyer before the show starts where people can try on traditional Chinese clothing.

The festival show begins at 6.30pm on Sunday at the Regent.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/107115370/palmerston-norths-chinese-residents-show-off-their-culture-in-festival-at-regent-on-broadway