Thousands flock to Missouri for Vietnamese Catholic festival

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CARTHAGE, Mo. (AP) _ Thousands of Vietnamese Catholics from across the U.S. are traveling to southwestern Missouri for an annual religious festival.

The Joplin Globe reports the Marian Days celebration in Carthage begins Thursday as a way to honor Mary, the mother of Jesus. The four-day festival at the Congregation of the Mother of the Redeemer reunites families and friends separated after the fall of Saigon in 1975.

The tradition has been going on for about 40 years.

The Carthage Police Department says the festival saw more than 100,000 visitors last year.

Peter Chau Le is one of many refugees who fled Vietnam in the mid-1970s after North Vietnam’s invasion of South Vietnam. Le traveled from Van Buren, Arkansas, to the Carthage festival this year. He says he enjoys meeting people and building friendships.

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