This year & the next celebration
When is Mid-Autumn Festival?
13 days away
Mid-Autumn Festival 2026
25 September 2026Open this calendar month →Meaning & living traditions
What is Mid-Autumn Festival?
Mooncakes to share and give
Round mooncakes connect the festival with family harmony and reunion. In Singapore, exchanging them also maintains relationships among friends and colleagues; baked, snow-skin and newer varieties reflect a living food tradition.
Lanterns after dark
Children carrying lanterns give neighbourhood celebrations their evening colour. Moon-viewing and family gatherings make the night sky part of the shared occasion.
Stories of the Moon
Chang’e and other figures associated with the Moon add a storytelling tradition. Different versions circulate through families and communities rather than forming one universal account.
More than a mooncake table
Mid-Autumn also carries associations with harvest gratitude and moon worship. A Singapore family’s recorded recollection includes tea or wine, pomelos, yams and melons among its offerings, followed by a mooncake supper. The wider meal and household gathering give context to the festival’s familiar cake.
Tai Hang’s fire dragon
Hong Kong’s Tai Hang community has a distinctive Mid-Autumn tradition: a dragon carrying incense sticks performs on the evenings of lunar 8/14, 8/15 and 8/16. Dragon-making and performance skills pass between generations through the local community. This three-night observance is a particular neighbourhood tradition, not a programme shared by every Mid-Autumn celebration.
Calendar rule
When Mid-Autumn Festival falls
The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, near that month's full moon.
The exact rule is 15th day of the 8th lunar month. Its Gregorian date moves because lunar months last 29 or 30 days, while leap months keep the lunar year aligned with the seasons.
Mid-Autumn Festival dates, 2023–2032
| Year | Gregorian date | Calendar position |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 29 September 2023 | Lunar 8/15 |
| 2024 | 17 September 2024 | Lunar 8/15 |
| 2025 | 6 October 2025 | Lunar 8/15 |
| 2026 | 25 September 2026 | Lunar 8/15 |
| 2027 | 15 September 2027 | Lunar 8/15 |
| 2028 | 3 October 2028 | Lunar 8/15 |
| 2029 | 22 September 2029 | Lunar 8/15 |
| 2030 | 12 September 2030 | Lunar 8/15 |
| 2031 | 1 October 2031 | Lunar 8/15 |
| 2032 | 19 September 2032 | Lunar 8/15 |
Observance
How it is observed
Among Chinese communities in Singapore, families may share mooncakes, pomelo and tea while children carry lanterns, with household practices varying.
Common questions
Understanding Mid-Autumn Festival
Is Mid-Autumn the same as Lantern Festival?
No. Mid-Autumn falls on lunar 8/15; Lantern Festival is lunar 1/15. Both have lantern customs, but their place in the year and their wider traditions differ.
Were secret messages hidden in mooncakes?
The account connecting mooncakes with an uprising against Yuan rule is a festival legend. It belongs to the storytelling tradition, rather than an established explanation for every mooncake custom.
Must a family perform moon worship to celebrate?
No. Family meals, lantern activities and community gatherings also form part of Mid-Autumn observance.
The calendar around the next occurrence
Mid-Autumn Festival in 2026
Friday, 25 September 2026 is lunar month 8, day 15, in lunar year 2026. The festival falls in the Yang Fire Horse year.
The festival’s lunar year
Yang Fire Horse
354 days across 12 lunar months, with no leap month.
Explore this lunar year →Inside lunar month 8
29 days in this month
From 11 September 2026 to 9 October 2026. The festival is on day 15.
Autumn Equinox
The solar term begins on 23 September 2026.
Convert the festival date →
Moon around the celebration
Waxing gibbous
The festival keeps lunar day fifteen. The nearest full moon falls on 27 September 2026 at 00:49 · UTC+8.
Moon phases for the festival month →Before and after this festival
27 August 2026
Ghost FestivalLunar date & day reading →25 September 2026
Mid-Autumn FestivalLunar date & day reading →18 October 2026
Double Ninth FestivalLunar date & day reading →
The next celebration · 25 September 2026 · UTC+8
The complete Mid-Autumn Festival day reading
The festival sets the occasion; its day pillar, activities, directions and hours change each year. This reading is for 25 September 2026.
Daily almanac · 2026-09-25
Mid-Autumn Festival: activities & day animal
壬寅 Yang Water Tiger
The stem gives Water; the branch gives Tiger.
Read this stem against your Day Master →Huang Dao and Hei Dao name the day-god cycle. For a particular plan, read its Yi and Ji activities below.
宜 Traditionally suitable
忌 Traditionally avoid
Calendar terms explained
This day in the traditional cycles
Each result below names this date’s position and explains what the term means.
- Day pillar 日柱
- Yang Water Tiger · 壬寅— this date’s position in the repeating 60-day stem–branch cycle.Hidden stems are stems conventionally contained in the day pillar’s earthly branch. Primary is the main layer; middle and residual are secondary layers.
- Yang Wood · Jiǎ 甲 (primary)
- Yang Fire · Bǐng 丙 (middle)
- Yang Earth · Wù 戊 (residual)
- Month pillar 月柱
- Yin Fire Rooster · 丁酉— the month’s position in the 60-part stem–branch cycle.
- Year pillar 年柱
- Yang Fire Horse · 丙午— Fire reinforces Fire; the year’s position in the 60-year cycle.
- Day Na Yin 纳音
- Gold-leaf Metal · 金箔金— a fixed named element assigned to this pillar; its element is Metal.
- Day animal 生肖
- Tiger · 虎— the animal of the earthly branch in this date’s pillar.
- Opposes 冲
- Yang Fire Monkey · 丙申— a Six Clash (六冲), the branch directly opposite this date’s branch in the 12-branch cycle.
- Lunar mansion 宿
- Ox · 牛— this date’s position in the repeating 28-mansion cycle.North palace (北) · Ox creature (牛) · traditionally unfavourable (凶)
- Day officer 建除
- Hold · 执— determined by this date’s earthly branch relative to its solar-term month branch.
- Auspicious directions 吉方
- Joy 喜神: South (正南)
- Blessing 福神: Southeast (东南)
- Wealth 财神: South (正南)
- Peng Zu lines 彭祖百忌
- The verse cautions against drawing water, saying trouble may be hard to guard against.壬不泱水更难提防The verse cautions against ritual offerings, saying spirits may not receive them.寅不祭祀神鬼不尝Two traditional almanac caution lines selected by this date’s stem and branch.
All hours and their hour gods · UTC+8
Auspicious hours for Mid-Autumn Festival
Read every interval and its traditional classification. A favorable hour is separate from suitability for a particular activity.
Azure Dragon
AuspiciousBright Hall
AuspiciousHeavenly Punishment
InauspiciousVermilion Bird
InauspiciousGolden Coffer
AuspiciousHeavenly Virtue
AuspiciousWhite Tiger
InauspiciousJade Hall
AuspiciousHeavenly Prison
InauspiciousDark Warrior
InauspiciousController of Destiny
AuspiciousGou Chen
InauspiciousController of Destiny
Auspicious
The Rat double-hour crosses midnight. Its 00:00–00:59 and 23:00–23:59 portions belong to different hourly cycles, so both are listed separately. How the hourly cycle works →
The Moon this month · UTC+8
September 2026 moon phases
Last quarter
Lunar 7/23
New moon
Lunar 8/1
First quarter
Lunar 8/9
Full moon
Lunar 8/17
Calculated phase moments use fixed UTC+8. A lunar day number and a Moon phase describe different things. How they fit together →
Plan around Mid-Autumn Festival
See the festival in its month or compare the surrounding days with your own birth-year animal.