Asia Pacific Yuri’s Night Celebrations

A big 'thank you' to all party organisers for their valuable work on the reviews they submitted. Congratulations to all of you who took part in the world's largest space party: an event celebrated this year in 127 countries over 6 continents, as well as aboard the International Space Station.

We youth can inspire what has been element nature of the human self: the awe for the cosmos. We as Asians have had a strong link to astronomy in our own history: We are proud to have witnessed mankind's first recorded solar eclipse in China around 2136 BC. Additionally, the earliest known reference to Heliocentric models was made in Harrapan and Vedic periods of Ancient India.

In celebrating and helping others celebrate Yuri's Night, young leaders have inspired several new enthusiasts. Following this path could lead to radical changes in the world for a better tomorrow for all. We would like to take this opportunity to invite new space enthusiasts to organise parties in more countries next year to help us extend this worldwide celebration of the human spaceflight.

Reviews of some of the entries received for the 2007 Asia-Pacific Yuri's Night experience competition follow. The parties were all amazing! The winning entry for 2007 would be announced soon on the SG Talk email list- watch this Space!

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND

Yuri's Night in Christchurch blasted off with a free space cocktail for every certified space fanatic through the door. Brainpower was soon put to the test with a space quiz, with winners receiving Yuri t-shirts, Greenpeace t-shirts and vouchers from our venue, The Tap Room. At this popular restaurant and bar in the heart of Christchurch city, partygoers entered a space zone fitted out with glowing stars and silver rockets, mingled with other space enthusiasts, and danced the night away to space-themed music. To top it all off, a range of delicious vegetarian snacks was served by two glammed up space girls, who sparkled and shined onto the night. The event was a great success, with over 100 people through the door and donations collected for Greenpeace, global campaigner for the protection and conservation of our natural environment. A big thank you to our sponsors Smirnoff and NZS.com for helping us bring the Yuri's Night world space party to Christchurch.
(Submitted by Greta Simpson)

GYEONGSAN, KOREA

The inaugural Yuri's Night saw Yeungnam University students and friends gather in Gyeongsan to celebrate space and cultural diversity. "Astronauts orbiting Earth see no borders, no countries... just one planet, one people. It is this perspective which we share with the world as we celebrate our planet and our future." With participants from Korea, China, France, Australia and Italy, it was the one of the broadest range of foreigners that many Koreans had ever interacted with! Earlier we exchanged greetings with Australia and Russia and received best wishes from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. We learned some Russian and toasted together over a Korean style dinner with amazing side dishes!
(Submitted by Andrea Boyd)

BEIJING, CHINA

Beijing 2007 Yuri's night party was held at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) on April 12th, 2007. This is the second Yuri's Night party at BUAA, with the first one held in 2005. The purpose of the party was to bring together space enthusiasts, develop responsible young space leaders with a global perspective, and inspire public awareness and appreciation of space leading toward a better future. This party was funded by Google and organised by the Association of Astronautics, which is a student community of space enthusiasts in BUAA. Yuri's Night World Space Party and the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) also provide their kind help for the event.

We printed tickets and created posters with the entire Yuri's Night story, and also contacted the school radio and newspaper to broadcast this event. The event was also posted on our school's website. As a result of our efforts, roughly 250 people joined our party. Most of them were Aerospace students from BUAA. The party started with a presentation describing human spaceflight, Yuri Gagarin's achievement, and an introduction to SGAC and Yuri's Night. During the party, several people who had participated in and organised previous Yuri's Night parties in other countries shared their experience with Chinese participants; Mei Ling Doery discussed her Melbourne Party and Matthew Joscelyne and George Weinmann talked of organising the first Los Angeles party. Several small games were also arranged to engage attendees. The party became stirring, as attendees were familiar with each other and chatting together. The party lasted for more than three hours, with laughter shared, pictures taken, and friendships made.
(Submitted by Wang Ting)

Several other party organisers have pictures to share from their parties, which will soon be available on the SGAC website. If you celebrated Yuri's Night in any other Asia-Pacific country, please email bee{at}spacegeneration.org to have your party featured here, too!

COMPILED AND SUBMITTED BY Bee Thakore and Imran Majid, Asia Pacific Regional Coordinators