Mid-Autumn Festival 2027 Date
The Mid-Autumn Festival 2027, also called the Moon Festival, falls on Wednesday 15 September 2027 — the 15th day of the 8th lunar month.
Last updated: 8 November 2026
Mid-Autumn Festival 2027
Mid-Autumn Festival dates 2025–2030
| Year | Mid-Autumn Festival |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Monday 6 October 2025 |
| 2026 | Friday 25 September 2026 |
| 2027 | Wednesday 15 September 2027 |
| 2028 | Tuesday 3 October 2028 |
| 2029 | Saturday 22 September 2029 |
| 2030 | Thursday 12 September 2030 |
The festival is held on the full moon of the eighth lunar month, so it always falls between about 8 September and 7 October. In 2028 it comes late, on 3 October, and overlaps China's National Day holiday.
A harvest festival under the full moon
The Mid-Autumn Festival began as a harvest celebration and a time to give thanks to the moon, which is traditionally said to be at its roundest and brightest that night. Families gather for dinner, then go outside to admire the moon, light lanterns and share mooncakes — dense round pastries filled with lotus seed or red bean paste, often with a salted egg yolk in the middle to represent the moon. The best-known legend is of Chang'e, who drank an elixir of immortality and floated to the moon, where she lives with a jade rabbit.
Holidays and local traditions
| Place | Name | Holiday in 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland China | Zhongqiu Jie | Public holiday, usually a three-day break around the date |
| Hong Kong | Mid-Autumn Festival | The day after the festival is a general holiday: Thursday 16 September 2027 |
| Taiwan | Zhongqiu Jie | Public holiday; barbecues are a modern custom |
| South Korea | Chuseok | Three days, 14–16 September 2027 |
| Vietnam | Tet Trung Thu | Not a public holiday; a children's festival with lion dances and star lanterns |
| Singapore, Malaysia | Mooncake Festival | Not a public holiday; lantern displays in Chinatown and gardens |
Korea's Chuseok shares the same lunar date but has its own customs: families travel to their hometowns, visit ancestral graves and make half-moon rice cakes called songpyeon. It is one of the busiest travel periods of the Korean year.
Where to see the lanterns
- Hong Kong: Victoria Park and the Tai Hang fire dragon dance, a tradition over a century old, held over three nights.
- Singapore: Gardens by the Bay and Chinatown light up for several weeks.
- Vietnam: Hoi An's old town and Hanoi's Hang Ma street fill with lanterns and children's processions. If you're weighing a base for Hoi An, see this comparison of Hoi An or Da Nang.
Mooncakes old and new
The classic Cantonese mooncake has a thin golden crust and a dense filling of lotus seed paste, sometimes with one or two salted duck egg yolks. Suzhou-style mooncakes are flaky and often savoury, filled with minced pork. Snow-skin mooncakes, made with glutinous rice flour and eaten chilled, became popular in Hong Kong in the 1980s, and today hotels and cafés compete with flavours such as durian, matcha, salted caramel and custard lava. Mooncakes are rich — they are usually cut into small wedges and shared with tea.
Travel tips for the Mid-Autumn Festival 2027
Mooncake season starts weeks before the festival, with hotel bakeries and luxury brands selling gift boxes. In Korea, avoid long-distance roads and trains on the first and last days of Chuseok unless you've booked well ahead. In China, attractions are busy over the short holiday, but the larger travel rush comes two weeks later with the National Day Golden Week starting 1 October.
Frequently asked questions
- When is the Mid-Autumn Festival 2027?
- Wednesday 15 September 2027.
- When is Chuseok 2027?
- 14–16 September 2027, with the main day on 15 September.
- Why do people eat mooncakes?
- Their round shape symbolises the full moon and family reunion; they are shared or given as gifts.
- When is the Mid-Autumn Festival 2028?
- Tuesday 3 October 2028.
Sources: GovHK – General holidays · Hong Kong Observatory – Gregorian–Lunar calendar conversion · Korea Tourism Organization