With a history dating back to over 3000 years, the mid-autumn is one of the most popular festivals celebrated in Chinese cultures. Also known as the moon festival or the mooncake festival, the mid-autumn festival takes place on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar. For this year, the holiday falls on the 10th of September.

The moon festival is celebrated by lantern lighting, throwing fireworks, having family meals, sharing gifts and sharing mooncake, a delicious delicacy affiliated with the festival. Every mid-autumn festival in Hong Kong, there are various fascinating displays at different locations throughout the city. We are here to let you in on where to enjoy the festival displays this year.

Five Spots From Which The Mid-Autumn Festival Displays Can Be Admired In Hong Kong

• The Victoria Park Mid-Autumn Urban Carnival and Lantern Displays

The biggest and official Hong Kong mid-autumn festival display event takes place at Victoria Park. Get ready for a night full of beautiful demonstrations including an enormous lantern display which is described by most to be the grandest of all, folk music performances and kungfu display. The government usually invites the Tai Hang Fire Dragon team to perform a fire dragon dance in Victoria Park every year on the night of the mid-autumn festival.

Location: Island Line, Causeway Bay Station, Exit E.

• The Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance

The Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance is a one-of-a-kind, unique mid-autumn event that many look forward to in all the celebration. The tale says the ritual has been performed every year for a century now ever since it saved the lives of Tai Hang residents from a deadly disease.

300 performers carrying over 24000 glowing incense sticks and making coordinated movements make it look like it’s a real dragon. The ‘dragon’ is usually huge and can be up to 67 meters in length.

Location: Wun Sha St, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

• Tai O Lanterns Display

Tai O is a traditional fishing area in Hong Kong. A sight worth seeing is the residents of Tai O,  making hundreds of hand-crafted lanterns and lining them across the village. With most of the lanterns found in the main square, Tai O is one of the most amazing mid-autumn lantern displays that take place yearly. Tourists describe it as a resembling a bunch of stars filling the night sky.

• Lee Tung Avenue: Lanterns To The Moon

Every year, Lee Tung Avenue has impressive mid-autumn displays all over the place. Speaking of one of the most popular Insta photo spots in Hong Kong, you can’t get disappointed by spending the mid-autumn festival at Lee Tung. During the period of the festival, Lee Tung Avenue has 688 lanterns of different colours (red, pink, green and purple) hanging above the boulevard creating a beautiful spectacle. Want to take a picture, you can talk to the staff of Lee Tung Avenue to get a free Instagram shot with the illuminated lanterns in exchange for following their Instagram account.

Location: Lee Tung Avenue, 200 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

• The Tai Po Lake House Mid-Autumn Displays

The lake house is a grand colonial house at Tai Po with an impressive, romantic European setting. If you want this year’s mid-autumn to be truly memorable, then this is a place to be. Featuring a huge three-metre lit up moon and several glowing rabbits and toadstools and a Cantonese restaurant called Le Vow, Lake House is perfect for enjoying a romantic lakeside meal with your lover this mid-autumn holiday. You can also make a wish at the lake by releasing one of the glowing, floating lotus flowers.

Location: Lake House, Lake Egret Nature Park, 2 Hung Lam Drive, Tai Po, Hong Kong

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! It’s going to be lit, quite literally.