Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s Mid-Autumn week gathers family mooncake ritual, Victoria Park lanterns and the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance under the fifteenth night of the eighth lunar month.
2026 dates
- Venue
- Victoria Park, Tai Hang streets, temples and harbourfront spaces across Hong Kong
- Where to plan around
- Causeway Bay, Tai Hang, Tsim Sha Tsui and Pok Fu Lam
- Access
- Lantern carnival admission is free. Fire Dragon processions are public street events with dense crowds; arrive early and follow local stewarding. Expect extended late-night MTR and bus services on festival night; reconfirm Transport Department notices closer to the date.
- Official information
- Visit Hong Kong Tourism Board / LCSD Community Programmes Office ↗
The Banquet note
Mid-Autumn falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, when the moon is traditionally read as fullest. In 2026 that night is Friday, 25 September; Hong Kong takes the following day as a general holiday. The civic programme is wider than a single evening. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival fills Victoria Park from 19 to 27 September with free lantern displays, craft and riddle programmes, while a separate lighting installation runs at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza. Household custom still centres shared mooncakes, lantern walks and evening gatherings rather than daytime spectacle.
The week’s strongest ritual street event is the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance, listed by HKTB for 24 to 26 September and inscribed on China’s National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011. A roughly 67-metre dragon studded with thousands of incense sticks is carried by hundreds of performers through Tai Hang after an eye-dotting rite at Lin Fa Kung. Pok Fu Lam Village keeps a related Mid-Autumn fire-dragon tradition on the south side of the island. Choose one dense evening rather than chasing both neighbourhoods and the park carnival in the same night.
Plan it well
Stay near Causeway Bay or Fortress Hill MTR for Victoria Park and Tai Hang. Arrive at Tai Hang before dusk on fire-dragon nights; Wun Sha Street fills quickly. Book restaurants early for 25 and 26 September, and reconfirm carnival hours, Cultural Centre lighting and Transport Department overnight service notes in mid-September on cpo.gov.hk and discoverhongkong.com.