The Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, is a festival celebrating the fall harvest season with events taking place at various venues in the Vancouver region.
In 2026 there are mid-autumn moon festival events in Richmond, Coquitlam and other communities, including in Vancouver with the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival and at the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver’s Chinatown.
For full detail about the event in Chinatown, visit chinesecanadianmuseum.ca.
Events taking place in the Lower Mainland include the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival at Mackin Park in Coquitlam, Mid-Autumn Melodies in Richmond, and Mid-Autumn Festival at the Chinese Canadian Museum (on September 26th and 27th). There is also an event at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden in Chinatown.
The Chinese Canadian Museum is a really good museum located at #51 East Pender Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown. The museum is interesting to visit any time of the year, but especially when it has special events happening, including during its Mid-Autumn Festival in the fall and at Lunar New Year in either January or February.
In 2026 the Chinese Canadian Museum has its Mid-Autumn Festival event on the Saturday and Sunday of September 25th and 26th. Activities take place between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm on both days and most of the activities are included with general admission to the museum. (The only one you have to pay for is the mooncake-making workshop which costs between $40 and $50).
On both the Saturday and Sunday in 2026 there are mooncake samples to enjoy (thanks to Sungiven Foods). There are also both Chinese knot lantern tassel and playdough mooncake crafts. On the Saturday, there are also story time sessions. They take place at 11:30 am in English and 1:30 pm in Cantonese.
The mooncake-making workshops are on the Sunday with Chef Christopher Leow. They happen at 11:30 am and then again at 1:30 pm. The workshops are ticketed, you have to register for them, and they typically sell out well in advance.
About Mid-Autumn Festivals
Originating in China a few thousand years ago, mid-autumn festivals and moon festivals happen all around the world, especially in Asian countries, including China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
The Mid-Autumn Festival takes place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese calendar, which means sometime between September 7th and October 8th depending on the year. The holiday celebrates the full moon around the autumn equinox. In Japan the event is called Tsukimi, which means moon viewing.
Traditionally the holiday event is a time for giving thanks, admiring the full moon, harvesting crops, and eating mooncakes with friends and family. (Mooncakes are an Asian pastry. They are traditionally round, filled with either lotus seed or red bean paste, and eaten during the fall moon festival.) Lanterns and lion or dragon dances ae also sometimes part of the tradition. In some ways, it’s a bit like North American Thanksgiving.
Other Information
To learn more about events at the Chinese Canadian Museum, see the chinesecanadianmuseum.ca website.
For information about other autumn festivals in 2026, check out the following:
For details about other fall festivals and activities, see our articles about the following:
Other websites you might also like include VancouverHalloweenEvents.ca and VancouverMuseums.ca.
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