When is Mid-autumn Festival: Mid-autumn Festival Dates, Calendar & Celebrations

Written by Natalia | Updated November 28,2025

Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four major traditional festivals in China along with the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), the Qingming Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival. In 2006, it has been listed as the national intangible cultural heritage. It got the name because it is in the middle of autumn at August 15^th in lunar calendar and at the night of full moon, thus also known as Mooncake Festival or Moon Festival.

Through thousands years of development in ancient China, mid-autumn festival has become a festival for conveying the feelings of homesickness and thoughts of missing loved ones, making it a festival of family reunion. Originated from the autumn harvest celebration, it also expresses gratitude for a bountiful harvest of five grains of Chinese since ancient China.

So when is the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2026? In 2026, the Mid-autumn Festival will fall on  September 25th. As it is on Friday, it automatically creates a three-day break with the following Saturday and Sunday. No compensatory make-up work day will be required on a preceding or following weekend.

Content Preview

• The Mid-Autumn Festival Dates Change Every Year
• How long is the Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday in China?
• Mid-autumn Festival Dates for 2025, 2026 and Future Years
• Beyond the Dates: Rich Traditions of Mid-Autumn Festival in China
• Beyond the Dates: Global Celebration of Mid-Autumn Festival outside China
• FAQs about Mid-autumn Festival Dates and Schedule
• Plan a China Culture Tour with Us

The Mid-Autumn Festival Dates Change Every Year

The date of Mid-Autumn Festival is on August 15^th based on the lunar calendar date, while in correspondence of the date in solar calendar, it is different every year. But in general, the Mid-Autumn Festival date is during the end of September and the early of October.

How long is the Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday in China?

The exact duration of Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday in Chinese mainland is one day, but it is usually arranged as a holiday of three consecutive days together with weekends through holiday shifts. In 2025, it come across the National Day, thus the holiday is extended from 7 days to 8 days.

In Hong Kong and Macau, the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday is different, which is on the next day of the festival, while in Taiwan, the holiday is exactly on the actual date. Since they do not have holiday shift, so the actual duration of the holiday is one day.

Mid-autumn Festival Dates for 2025, 2026 and Future Years

Beyond the Dates: Rich Traditions of Mid-Autumn Festival in China

Celebrations of Mid-Autumn Festival in the Mainland of China

With a long history, the traditions of the Mid-Autumn Festival have been very colorful and interesting. Except the common traditions like eating moon cake, admire the moon, there are also some local folk customs, such as the ancestor worship in Chaoshan District, floating lanterns on rivers in southern China, and watching tides of Qiantang River in Zhejiang province, etc.

1. Moon worship

Moon worship can be traced back to Zhou Dynasty and has become an important part of the family worship in later times. The common procedures are as follows: set up a incense burner table, place some mooncakes and fruits on it, then burn incense and light candles, bow to the moon, and pray for peace and reunion.

Some females will also pray for beauty like Chang’e, a beautiful goodness living on the moon in ancient Chinese myth. Till now, the Dai nationality in Yunnan Province also preserve this custom to express their longing for beauty.

2. Eating Mooncakes

The most common tradition of Mid-Autumn Festival is eating mooncakes which has been prevalent since Ming Dynasty. The types of mooncake are also various in different regions. The  Cantonese mooncake is the most common one, which is featured by thinner skin, more stuffings and delicate patterns. The main stuffings include egg yolk lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste, and five kernels.

Suzhou-style mooncake is also popular, the characteristics of it are the several layers of flaky puff pastries and unique production process. There are two main tastes: sweet mooncakes with stuffings of rose and fruits and salty mooncakes with stuffings of meat and ham. Beijing-style mooncake is the representative in the northern China, which is in court style. They are characterized by moderate sweetness and a crisp and crumbly texture. Remember to buy and taste the kind you like if you travel in China during Mid-Autumn festival.

3. Admire the Full Moon

In ancient China, numerous poets prefer to climb the tower and take a boat to admire the moon and they have wrote several famous poems about moon. While in nowadays, common people will sit around a table in the yard, share the mooncakes, fruits and snacks, and chat about the daily life or have some interesting activities.

4. Lantern Shows and Games

In ancient China, the lantern show was held along the street with colorful lanterns hanging on both sides of streets. Now, most lantern shows are held in the scenic spots with not only various kinds and shapes of lanterns hanging everywhere in the scenic area, but also abundant performances, even including firework performances and light show with unmanned aerial vehicles.

In addition, there are also lantern riddles games, many Chinese people are fond of guessing the riddles with their talent. In Mid-Autumn Festival, kids can also enjoy a happy time to make simple pomelo lanterns and pumpkin lanterns with a lighted candle inside. You can also try to make one if interested.

Celebrations of Mid-autumn Festival in Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong:

The most famous celebration activity in Hong Kong is the fire dragon dances show in Tai Hung, which has been listed as the national intangible cultural heritage. A 67-meter-long dragon is decorated with numerous incenses, and the parade with the dragon through Causeway Bay district is undoubtedly worth watching. It is usually held from August 14^th – 16^th for 3 days.

Besides, the largest lantern show in Hong Kong is held in Victoria Park. To admire the moon, Victoria Harbour, Taiping Mountain and Nanya Island are the places the local prefer. When wandering along the street, children like to take a pomelo lamp or electronic music lamp in hand.

Macau:

In the Mid-Autumn Festival, the international firework display is the annual grand event in Macau, which is usually held during early September and early October with one day each week. You can see the splendid firework shows from about 10 countries. To celebrate the festival, the whole city will be adorned with lanterns. And the unique Portuguese style rabbit lantern is the most attractive.

Beyond the Dates: Global Celebration of Mid-Autumn Festival outside China

How to Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival in Singapore

Though it is not a public holiday in Singapore, there are several lantern shows in Chinatown or some parks, where you can see the lanterns of both Chinese style and foreign styles. And acrobatics, Chinese ethnic dances, lion dancing and riddle guessing are held in Chinatown.

Except the common mooncakes, some characteristic mooncakes are created in Singapore like durian mooncake. To express blessings, relatives, friends and colleagues will send the elaborately packaged mooncakes to each other. In addition, lantern-making and mooncake DIY courses are popularized in communities.

How to Celebrate Mid-autumn Festival in Malaysia

The common traditions are moon admiration, mooncake tasting and lantern show. As for special customs, worshiping the moon Goddess for blessings is a ceremony originated from Chaoshan area and lead by women. After placing the perfumes and cosmetics, taro and water chestnuts on the table, burn the incense and gold and silver papers to pray for the safety of the entire family.

In the Chinese community, lion dance performances and martial arts competition will be organized. Flower cars with mythical figures will parade through the streets. And in schools, teachers always encourage students to create innovative lanterns using recycled materials to promote environmental sustainability.

How to Celebrate Mid-autumn Festival in America

In America, the oldest Mid-Autumn Festival street fair in North America is host in San Francisco’s Chinatown with activities of lion dancing, Cantonese opera, lantern show and giant mooncake sharing. While in New York’s Chinatown, there are experience zones of calligraphy, tea ceremony, paper-cutting. And an Asia night market is opened, offering stalls of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian foods.

FAQs about Mid-autumn Festival Dates and Schedule

Is the Mid-Autumn Festival a public holiday?

In the mainland of China, Hong Kong and Macau, Mid-Autumn Festival is a public holiday, while in Singapore, Malaysia and America, it is not.

Is the Mid-Autumn Festival always on a full moon night?

In fact, due to the influence of rules of the lunar calendar and Moon’s orbit, Mid-Autumn Festival is not always on a full moon night, and the percentage of full moon accounts for 40%. About 60% of the years see a full moon on the August 16^th. And a few years will see in August 14^th or 17^th. But when admiring the moon in naked eyes, it is not obvious.

Is the Mid-Autumn Festival date the same worldwide?

Most East and Southeast Asia countries celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in August 15^th, such as China, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. While in Japan, except August 15^th, September 13^rd is also the festival date. As for other countries, the date varied from each other. For example, Tanzania and India choose the full moon night at September and April respectively to celebrate. And the Mid-Autumn Festival date of Sri Lanka is the full moon night of every month.

Does Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore have the same Mid-Autumn Festival date as China?

Yes, Taiwan, Hongkong and Singapore all set the Mid-Autumn Festival at August 15^th as China.

How far in advance should I check the Mid-Autumn Festival schedule for travel planning?

If you plan to travel in a hot tourism city, it is advised to check at least 3 – 4 months in advance, since the hotels, airplanes and tickets for special activities are in short supply during holidays. if you travel to other cities, 2 – 3 months earlier is recommended.

Plan a China Culture Tour with China Xian Tour

A China tour with experience of local culture will definitely leave a deep impression on you. If you want to travel during Mid-Autumn Festival, you can choose the city holding traditional events and take part in the activities you like. And to save your time and energy of searching the information of these events, our travel agency are pleasant to offer help and plan an in-depth experience trip according to your needs. Also, we can book the hotels and tickets for you in advance. So do not hesitate, contact with China Xian Tour right now.