(VNF) - The second-biggest event on the Asian calendar, the Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, traditionally celebrates an auspicious harvest. Held on the 15^th day of the eighth lunar month, the Moon Festival is a time to gather with family and give thanks to ancestors and nature. In 2016, the Moon Festival falls on September 15^th.

Performance at the Mid-Autumn Festival in China (Photo: Chinanews.com)

The Moon Festival is celebrated across the world, with an array of activities, such as moon gazing, savouring mooncakes, watching dragon dances and lavish displays of colourful paper lanterns. For the most impressive festivities, set your sights on the major cities of China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

The Chinese Moon Festival legend can be traced back thousands of years to a time when farmers celebrated the mid-Autumn rice harvest and recognized the moon’s role in the change of seasons.

Over the years, special dishes were created to represent the moon, such as the iconic mooncakes. Other festival fare includes duck, taro, oranges and rice cakes, all of which are traditionally harvested in autumn.

The Mid-Autumn celebrations in Vietnam, called Tet Trung Thu, are strikingly similar to the Chinese festivities. The leading roles of Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam are children. As the day approaches, markets are full of lanterns and toys in spite of moon cakes. When adults eat moon cakes and appreciate the moon on that night, children usually play around with their beautiful lanterns. Lion dance performances are held in some places to enhance the celebration.

Lanterns at Hoi An, Vietnam (Photo: FB)

In South Korea, the Moon Festival, called Chuseok, is a time to pay respect to one’s ancestors, typically with a banquet. Families reunite during this time and mark the occasion with rice-based dishes, such as songpyeon (sweet mooncakes made with red beans, chestnut, rice and pine), hangwa (confectionery) and sikhye (a traditional sweet Korean rice drink).

Instead of mooncakes, however, Koreans consume songpyeon, small rice cakes shaped like a half moon, filled with sweet fillings such as mung beans and sesame seeds. (Photo source: koreafreeandeasy.blogspot.com)

The Japanese Moon Festival, or Otsukimi, is a time for introspection and gazing at the moon, a practice known as tsukimi. Again, rice-based dishes are a signature here, with tsukimi dango (rice-flour dumplings) enjoyed by one and all.

Sugary tsukimi wagashi, Japanese sweets shaped as bunnies, tsukimi dango (moon-viewing rice dumplings), chestnuts, mushrooms, fall flowers and the full moon veiled in pampass grass. (Photo: mboogiedown-japan.blogspot.com)

Likewise, Malaysia’s Moon Festival pays homage to the Chinese traditions, with dragon dances, lanterns and moon gazing. Also known as the Tanglung (Lantern) Festival, the Malaysia Moon Festival is marked with a family feast, followed by mooncakes.

Mid-autumn Festival celebrated in Malaysia (Photo: news.cn)

In Thailand, according to Thai legend, on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the Eight Immortals go to the Moon Palace to send peach-shaped cakes and birthday greetings to Guanyin (a Bodhisattva). So their offerings usually include some peach-shaped cakes. All family members, men and women, the young and old, then sit around the table with offerings to worship the moon, pray and exchange greetings.

Performances on the street in Thailand. (Photo: cinet.vn)

To Singaporeans, Mid-Autumn Festival is a good time to make friendly contacts, express thanks, and give greetings and best wishes to relatives, friends, and business partners by the way of sending moon cakes. As the country is a famous tourist destination, local people never miss the chance to attract tourists. They decorate Orchard Road, river banks, Chinatown, Chinese Garden and other places to welcome tourists worldwide.

Lantern boat on the Singapore River for the Mid-Autumn Festival. (Photo: eastcoastlife.blogspot.my)

Minh Phuong