Celebrate the Full Harvest Moon

Mid-Autumn Festival is a Magical Way to Celebrate the Full Harvest Moon — Here's how to celebrate Autumn with mooncakes, lanterns, and skygazing.

By Patricia Doherty | Travel + Leisure | Fact checked by Sarah Cahalan

The full moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox is significant to people around the world. In many countries, the lunar event is recognized as the Harvest Moon, lighting the night for farmers working in their fields. In many Asian countries, the full moon that many believe is the brightest of the year is celebrated during the Mid-autumn Festival with a variety of customs that include family reunions, special foods, mooncakes, and lanterns.

The Mid-autumn Festival is observed widely throughout China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which usually falls in mid-September or early October.

Mid-autumn Festival Traditions

Festival customs vary among countries, but most focus on family gatherings, special foods, lanterns, and offerings to the moon. In South Korea, the celebration lasts three days, and many people travel to reunite with relatives. In Taiwan, the Mid-autumn Festival is a national holiday, celebrated with the eating of mooncakes and pomelo, a large citrus related to grapefruit.

In Vietnam, it’s called “Children’s Festival,” and youngsters carry lanterns as they watch lion dances and feast on mooncakes. Singapore’s Chinatown and Gardens by the Bay feature lantern displays and both traditional and modern versions of mooncakes.

Mooncakes are round, filled cakes that are elaborately decorated, often with patterns depicting the legends of the festival. People give mooncakes as gifts and serve them at family gatherings. Said to have become a Mid-autumn Festival tradition during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), the cookies symbolize the full moon. The fillings may be made of traditional lotus seed paste, egg yolk, bean paste, or more recently chocolate, truffles, foie gras, or even ice cream and lava filling with custard mooncake—with the finest ingredients: French butter, coconut cream, whipping cream and supreme salted egg yolks!

The Legend of the Mid-autumn Festival

An ancient Chinese legend connected with the festival involves a hero named Hou Yi who shot down nine of the 10 suns that were overheating the earth, earning himself a reward from the Goddess of the Heavens. She gave him a special elixir that would enable him to ascend to the heavens and become a god.

Hou Yi’s beautiful wife, Chang’e, in an effort to protect the elixir from an evil man, drank it herself and flew to the moon along with a rabbit sent to accompany her. The brokenhearted Hou Yi placed his wife’s favorite foods on his table every year afterwards on the day of the fullest moon, hoping she would appear.

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