By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Mid-Autumn Festival, the 15th day of the eighth lunar monthWednesday 15 September 2027
- Public holiday, the day after the festivalThursday 16 September 2027
- Where
- Victoria Park
- Tickets
- Free
- Time of year
- September
- Dates
- Move each year with the lunar calendar
The holiday is gazetted, and it falls on the day AFTER the festival. The festival date is from the Hong Kong Observatory’s conversion table. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announces its lantern carnival about a month ahead; the last one ran for eleven days around the festival.
Mid-Autumn is one of the great family festivals of the Hong Kong year, and much of it is free. Victoria Park holds a lantern carnival, the Tai Hang Fire Dragon runs nearby, and people of all ages walk out after dinner to look at the moon. The public holiday is the day after the festival, because everyone stays up late. It falls in typhoon season, so hold your plans loosely.
What Mid-Autumn Festival actually is
The festival marks the fullest moon of the harvest season, on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. Families eat together, then head to a park, a beach or a rooftop with lanterns and fruit. The moon stands for reunion, which is why the night matters so much to people living apart.
The food is the mooncake, a dense round pastry stamped with a pattern and traditionally filled with lotus paste and salted egg yolk. Boxes are given to relatives, clients and staff through the weeks before, so bakeries and hotels fill their windows from August.
Public celebration has grown around the private one. The government’s carnival now fills Victoria Park with lantern installations for more than a week, mixing traditional paper craft with large modern displays.
Where to watch Mid-Autumn Festival
- Victoria Park, for the carnival. At the last one the lanterns lit up from 6:30pm to 11pm, later on festival night, with a creative market, lantern riddles and craft workshops. The Fire Dragon came into the park on Mid-Autumn night itself, and a gala followed with Cantonese opera excerpts.
- Tai Hang, for the Fire Dragon, which runs through the lanes on three nights around the festival. It has its own page on this site, and it is a short walk from the park.
- The Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui, for a lighter version. A lighting installation stood there for a few weeks around the last festival, with the harbour behind it.
- A beach or a hilltop, for the moon. Families gather on the sands at Repulse Bay and Shek O and in harbourside parks. If the sky is clear, anywhere with an open eastern view will do.
Tickets and what it costs
There is nothing to book for the public events. Restaurants are another matter: festival night is one of the busiest dinners of the year, so reserve a family meal well ahead.
Buy mooncakes early if you want a famous hotel’s box, as the most sought-after sell out. Shops usually cut prices in the last days before the festival.
Official information and booking: www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/events.html
Getting there
Causeway Bay station is the nearest to Victoria Park, and the Fire Dragon streets are a walk beyond it. Tin Hau station, one stop east on the Island Line, is usually less crowded on the night.
Trams run along Causeway Road, past the park, and buses are diverted around Tai Hang while the dragon is out. For Tsim Sha Tsui, take the Star Ferry across from Central or Wan Chai.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Booking a day off for the wrong day
The public holiday comes the day after the festival, so offices and schools are open on festival day itself. The crowds are out late that night.
Forgetting it is typhoon season
A storm signal can change the programme or stop it altogether. Check the Observatory on the day, and have a dinner plan that does not depend on a beach.
Lighting candles in the park
Melting wax and playing with fire are banned in public parks, and staff stop it on this night. Stick to battery lanterns, and follow the signs at any park or beach.
Buying the first box you see
Hotel mooncakes can cost several times a bakery’s. Try one from a small shop first, and split it: a whole traditional mooncake is far richer than it looks.
Other Hong Kong events
Frequently asked questions
When is the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong?
On the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, in September or early October. The public holiday is the following day. The dates card above has this year’s.
Is the Mid-Autumn lantern carnival free?
Yes. The government’s carnival at Victoria Park is free to enter, and it stayed open into the late evening at the last festival. Details appear about a month before.
Is the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival a holiday in Hong Kong?
No, the holiday is the day after. It gives everyone a rest following a late night, so shops and restaurants are at their busiest on the evening of the festival itself.
Where is the best place to see lanterns in Hong Kong?
Victoria Park, which has the largest displays, then the Cultural Centre Piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui. Lee Tung Avenue in Wan Chai and other shopping streets also hang their own lanterns.
What do people eat at Mid-Autumn?
Mooncakes above all, with lotus paste and egg yolk or the newer custard kind, along with pomelo and taro. Tea is the usual way to cut through the richness.
Sources
- Hong Kong Government press release, Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival
- GovHK, general holidays
- Hong Kong Observatory, conversion table
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.