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Photo by Beatrice Murch.

When I first started this column, I wasn't quite sure of the tone I wanted to take it in. Recently, I’ve been writing about politics, not only because I tend to have a bit of an interest in it, but I enjoy it enough to consider it as a possible chosen profession. But I’d thought I’d lighten up things a bit this week.

 

With Labor Day out of the way, Western Washington residents can now, as the ads say, “Do the Puyallup,” as in partake in the Puyallup Fair. I love carnivals just as much as the next man-child, but I find it a bit unsettling in having a fair at a location that was once an interment camp for Japanese-Americans. I have steadily boycotted the Puyallup Fair since I was 15 and I’ve heard the “Why do you hate it so much blah, blah, blah?  It's just a carnival!” reasoning so many times that my ears are bleeding cotton candy at this point. I choose not to go as my way of not supporting it, as I have likened it to throwing a dance party at a cemetery. But that’s not going to stop thousands of people from attending to fair, which is fine. Everyone is going to have some opinion about it.

 

For this weekend, however, I suggest one (or both) of the following events:

 

Bellevue Community College is hosting Aki Matsuri, a fall festival celebrating Japanese culture.

 

On Saturday, the Seattle Center is hosting a Korean Harvest Moon Festival, which will be held in the Center House.

 

Unlike the Puyallup Fair, both of these events are free. Though they’re not flashy and you can’t win a giant novelty comb or a dying goldfish from ring toss, we should be taking advantage of living in a city that really has such a diverse population and not celebrate the fall by stomping on the grounds where so many families were torn apart because of their ethnicity. What was that thing I said about not being serious this week?

For more info: Visit the Eastside Nihon Matsur Association's official website for info on Aki Matsuri and the Seattle Center's website for info on the Korean Cultural Celebration.