Mid-Autumn Festival 2027: Food and Where to Celebrate

Mid-Autumn Festival is Wednesday 15 September 2027. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival held on the full moon of the eighth lunar month, when families gather to look at the moon and share round cakes. Korea keeps the same full moon as Chuseok and Vietnam as Tet Trung Thu, each with its own sweets.

Source: Mid-Autumn Festival, Chuseok, Tết Trung Thu.

Also known as Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival, Chuseok, Tet Trung Thu, Tsukimi, Zhongqiu.

What people eat for Mid-Autumn Festival

Mooncakes

China, Hong Kong and overseas Chinese communities

Round pastries with a thick, sweet filling, often with a whole salted egg yolk in the middle to stand for the full moon. Sharing round mooncakes among family members signifies completeness and unity. The Cantonese kind is the best known, filled with lotus seed paste.

Source: Mid-Autumn Festival, Mooncake.

Cassia and osmanthus wine

China

Cassia wine is the traditional "reunion wine" drunk at the festival, because the plant blossoms at this time of year. In some places people drink osmanthus wine and eat osmanthus mooncakes.

Source: Mid-Autumn Festival.

Pomelos and fruit offerings

China

Offerings placed on an altar in the courtyard include apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates, melons, oranges and pomelos.

Source: Mid-Autumn Festival.

Banh nuong and banh dieo

Vietnam

Vietnam's two mooncakes for Tet Trung Thu, bánh nướng and bánh dẻo. Children also receive toys, among them tò he, edible toy figurines.

Source: Tết Trung Thu.

Songpyeon

Korea

The Korean Chuseok rice cake, shaped like a half moon and filled with sesame, chestnuts, red beans or honey. Families often make it at home, steaming it over a layer of pine needles.

Source: Songpyeon.

Yakgwa

Korea

A sweet honey cookie of fried rice flour dough, part of the Chuseok feast alongside songpyeon, Asian pears and rice wine.

Source: Chuseok.

Tsukimi dango

Japan

In Japan's moon-viewing festival, white rice dumplings are served with taro, edamame and chestnuts, plus sake, as offerings to the Moon for an abundant harvest.

Source: Tsukimi.