Mid-Autumn Festival

About Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, when the moon is said to be at its fullest and brightest. Families gather outdoors in the evening to admire the moon, eat mooncakes, round pastries filled with lotus seed paste, red bean or salted egg yolk, and share pomelos and tea. Children carry lanterns. The legend of Chang'e, the lady who flew to the moon after drinking an elixir, and of the jade rabbit that pounds herbs there, is told. Giving boxed mooncakes to relatives, friends and business partners is an important gift custom. In Hong Kong, Tai Hang's fire dragon dance is a local highlight, and in Vietnam, Korea and Japan the same moon is celebrated with their own foods.

Mid-Autumn Festival dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

What is eaten

• mooncake
• pomelo
• taro
• osmanthus tea

More marked on Mid-Autumn Festival

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