Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong

What is the Mid-autumn Festival in Hong Kong? Falling on 15th day of 8th lunar month, it is a traditional festival with a long history. During the festival, various celebration activities are held like fire dragon dancing, eating mooncakes, admiring the lanterns and so on.
 

Different from mainland China, the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in Hong Kong is scheduled on the next day of the festival, thus people can sleep late after a crazy night out.

The 2023 Mid-autumn Festival in Hong Kong falls on September 29 (Friday), and people there have a day off on September 30 (Saturday).
 

The traditional customs of the Hong Kong Mid-Autumn Festival include moon admiring, eating mooncakes, lantern riddle guessing, and traditional acrobatic performances. The one not to be missed is the fire dragon dance.
 

The fire dragon dance is one of the traditional customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong. It originated in the 19th century and has been inherited for more than 100 years. It is originally held to eliminate the plague, then gradually becomes a unique folk custom of Hong Kong. The fire dragon dance held in Tai Hang area in Causeway Bay is the grandest. People first paint the eyes of fire dragon in Lotus Mahal, insert burning incenses, and then take the fire dragon for a parade through the streets. In the sound of drums, nearly 300 people dances a huge fire dragon with a length of 67 meters (73 yards). The best place to watch it is Wun Sha Street. The fire dragon dance is also held in Victoria Park and Pokfulam Village.
 

Traditional lanterns fairs are important happy events during Moon Festival in Hong Kong. Around the festival, Victoria Park, Tai Po Waterfront Park, Gold Coast Piazza and Tuen Mun Park all hold lantern displays. Among them, Victoria Park’s lanterns fair is the largest and the most interesting. There are not only the lantern exhibitions, but also traditional acrobatic performances, and lantern riddles guessing, etc.
 

Mooncakes in Hong Kong have a lot of flavors, including the traditional lotus seed cakes, sesame bean curd, and newly fashions snowy mooncake, smooth milk tea cake, precious black truffles, French foie gras, and mooncakes with soft fillings. Hong Kong has always been leading the fashion trend of mooncakes. Where to buy mooncake in Hong Kong? The best mooncake Hong Kong are made by Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Huangyue, and Ritz Carlton.

Other popular Mid-Autumn festival food in Hong Kong include chicken, water chestnut and Shatian pomelo. Some families also eat taros on the festival day.
 

During the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong, many people would have a BBQ with families and friends in the suburbs. And the most recommended place for BBQ must be the Gold Coast of Tuen Mun. The Gold Coast is closer to the city than other beaches and there is a large supermarket nearby, so people can add food and supplies at any time. What’s more, they can appreciate two bright full moons, one in the sky and the other in the sea.

In addition to the Gold Coast, Shek O Beach and Tai Mei Tuk Dam are also good places to have a BBQ.
 

The top floor of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Kowloon, Hong Kong is the largest sky garden in Hong Kong. Covering a large lawn of 23,000 square meters, the coast also offers beautiful views of the Victoria Harbor. It is popular place among Hong Kong people to admire full moon.

Further Reading
Mid-autumn Festival in Taiwan 

Mid-Autumn Festival in Other Asian Countries

Chuseok - Korean Thanksgiving, Mid-Autumn Festival in Korea

Mid-Autumn Festival in Singapore

Tsukimi, Mid-Autumn Festival in Japan

Mid-Autumn Festival in Malaysia

Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam - Têt Trung Thu, Children’s Festival