Festivities
Each day of Marian Days is highlighted by a large, outdoor Mass on the CMC grounds. The Marian Days offer opportunities for Reconciliation and prayer. Mass is celebrated by many priests and religious.
Pilgrims turn the surrounding area into a large campground, as many nearby residents allow pilgrims to erect tents on their lawns. Although the celebrations are centered around liturgy, they also feature a number of other events. Dioceses with large Vietnamese populations set up large tents to sell traditional Vietnamese food. Proceeds go to the parishes, orphanages, or a diocese in Vietnam such as Phú Cường. Other organizations, such as a local Knights of Columbus chapter, also serve food to pilgrims in tents. Each night, performers from Thúy Nga and other groups entertain the large crowds with both folk and popular Vietnamese music.
At the end of the Procession in honor of Our Lady of Fatima, two long firecrackers are lit, followed by the release of numerous balloons of all colors tied to two flags, one of blue and white, the Virgin Mary's colors, and the other of the Vietnamese flag before the country fell to communism. The flags fly off into the distance; addresses are written on them, so that whoever finds the flags can return them.
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