3 Ways Celebrate Mid-Autumn Moon Festival #AsianMomBloggers

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Fall is my favorite season. Not just because of the cool mornings and changing leaves, but we have so many fall traditions. Not only do we go apple picking and carve pumpkins like other American families, we celebrate Têt Trung Thu also known as the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.

Têt Trung Thu, which falls the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar (the full moon). This year it falls on September 27, 2015. It started as a harvest celebration and has become a children’s festival. The festival is celebrated in China and Vietnam.

3 Ways to Celebrate Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

We keep the festival fairly low key. I do make sure we eat the traditional moon festival foods and admire the full moon. It’s all about the food, right? I hope you’ll celebrate this fun festival with your family. There’s still time to prepare! Here’s some ways you can celebrate with your family

Read a Mid-Autumn Festival Book


While The Moon Lady is about a Chinese girl, it’s one of my favorites. Amy Tan is a brilliant writer and the illustrations are beautiful.

Check out my full list Mid-Autumn Moon Festival children’s books.

Eat Mooncakes (and Other Round Foods)

Mooncakes are the traditional sweets for the festival, but no one in our family likes them! We do take a nibble, just for tradition’s sake. I usually buy our mooncakes from the local Asian market.  If you want to make your own, try Andrea Nguyen’s moon cakes, which are savory sweet. These gorgeous moon cakes from Boriville look like snowballs.

I asked my mom about what Vietnamese foods to eat for the festival. She says to just eat round-shaped foods. I’m thinking pie or eggrolls? They’re both round, right?

Make a Paper Lantern

Jaxson made this when he was 3! Thus the scribbles.

Since the festival is celebrated at night under a full moon, lanterns are usually hung outside. Kids also carry around lanterns on sticks. Kiwi Crate has my super easy tutorial for a paper lantern craft using supplies you already have on hand.

Just add a battery-operated tea light to complete the lantern.

If you strapped for time, just buy some paper lanterns (which is what I’ll be doing). These solar powered, waterproof lanterns look pretty cool, too.

What’s your favorite fall tradition?

Our September blog carnival is all about our family’s fall traditions. Check out what cool things my fellow #AsianMomBloggers and their family do when the weather cools down for autumn.

• Maria at Bicultural Mama: Mid Autumn Festival Fall Traditions with Moon Cake Recipe
• Grace from HapaMama: Fall Traditions: Pumpkin Patch Photoshoot Tips
• Thien-Kim at I’m Not the Nanny: 3 Ways to Celebrate Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
• Phyllis of Napkin Hoarder: My Grandmother Explains Chuseok
• Stephanie from Frankly, My Dear: Fall Traditions