The Mid-Autumn Festival pays homage to the brightest moon on the lunisolar calendar.
From artistic lantern installations to a silent disco, celebrations for the Mid-Autumn has welcomed new ideas to commemorate the occasion.
This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival will be celebrated on 25 September 2026.
As the Mid-Autumn Festival nears, Singapore lights up with a host of celebrations beneath the year’s brightest moon.
Celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunisolar calendar, this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 25 September 2026 and is traditionally a time for families and friends to gather under the full moon. Celebrations include lantern parades and recitations of the tale of the moon goddess Chang’e and her companion, the Jade Rabbit, from Chinese mythology.
Then there are the extensive mooncake collections. In the weeks leading up to the festival, Singapore enters its unofficial annual mooncake season, when the traditional lotus paste and salted egg yolk pastry share the spotlight with increasingly inventive flavours that make you wonder just how many ways one can reinvent the classic.
Across Singapore, the city is lighting up with glowing rabbits, Sanrio characters, traditional crafts, cultural performances and, rather unexpectedly, a silent disco. Ahead of the festival itself, here are a few places worth making a moonlit detour to.
Chinatown
For something a little closer to tradition, head to Chinatown from 11 September to 4 October 2026. Visitors can pen well-wishes on lanterns at community displays for the Mid-Autumn Festival 2026, while the weekend of 19 and 20 September brings lion dance and wushu performances, traditional lantern-making and Chinese cultural workshops. It is the sort of Mid-Autumn outing that calls for a cup of tea, a mooncake, and absolutely no reservations about going back for another one.
Where: Chinatown, Singapore
Contact: chinatown.sg
Gardens by the Bay
Few places do spectacle quite like Gardens by the Bay, and its Mid-Autumn Festival 2026 is going suitably big on the glow. From 12 to 27 September 2026, the Gardens will be illuminated by lantern installations including Moonlit Garden, Waterfall Fantasy, The Dream Forest and The Voyage, alongside the Colonnade of Lights and a marketplace at Supertree Grove. The celebrations culminate on 27 September with a dragon dance finale. In other words, there are plenty of reasons not to rush home once the sun goes down.
Where: Gardens by the Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore
Contact: gardensbythebay.com.sg
Lights by the Lake 2026
Jurong Lake Gardens will glow after dark for Lights by the Lake, returning from 19 to 27 September 2026 as part of Singapore’s Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations. The free event combines spectacular lantern displays, cultural showcases, live music, family-friendly activities and performances across Lakeside Garden, Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden. This year’s lantern trail draws inspiration from The Legend of the White Snake, tracing the famous Chinese folktale through five illuminated scenes before culminating in a light show at Cloud Pagoda. The main festivities run from 6.30pm to 10.30pm daily, while the lantern installations remain illuminated until 4 October. Admission is free.
Where: Jurong Lake Gardens, Yuan Ching Road, Singapore
Contact: https://lightsbythelake.nparks.gov.sg
Paragon Shopping Centre
If you like your Mid-Autumn celebrations with a little more art flair, Mid-Autumn Lumière at Paragon is a good place to start. Until 25 September 2026, 50 bespoke rabbit sculptures will be dotted around the mall, each designed by emerging artists from Raffles Design Institute and ART:DIS Singapore.
And these are not just rabbits to admire before heading to the shops. They are available for adoption, with proceeds going to ART:DIS Singapore, a non-profit supporting persons with disabilities through the arts. Consider it a festive souvenir with considerably more purpose than another decorative lantern.
Where: Paragon, 290 Orchard Road, Singapore
Contact: paragon.com.sg
Science Centre Singapore
From 19 to 27 September, Science Centre Singapore’s Celestial Trail takes visitors on an educational moon-themed journey from its premises to the neighbouring Japanese Garden. On 25 and 26 September, Moon Legends: From Myth to Mission, a live digital planetarium show, connects ancient lunar mythology with modern space exploration. Then, on 26 September, things take a decidedly less textbook turn with MOONBEATS: AFTERDARK, a silent disco beneath the stars.
Where: Science Centre Singapore, 15 Science Centre Road, Singapore
Contact: www.science.edu.sg
VivoCity
Over at VivoCity, Mid-Autumn gets a decidedly cuter makeover. Running until 27 September, the Sanrio Characters Moonlit Garden brings some of its most recognisable characters to life through the mall, with the Cinnamonroll Garden, Hello Kitty Lantern Walk, and Kuromi Carnival Kingdom among the highlights. Think of it as your childhood Sanrio collection, only considerably larger and with interactive carnival games and photo booths. Nostalgia, but make it substantially more fun.
Where: VivoCity, 1 HarbourFront Walk, Singapore
Contact: vivocity.com.sg
Whether you prefer your Mid-Autumn Festival traditional, whimsical, or art-forward, there is plenty happening around Singapore this year. Just remember to leave some room for mooncakes. There will be plenty of those, too.