Festival celebrations are underway in the U.S., honoring an ancient tradition rooted in East and Southeast Asian cultures. From lantern parades to mooncake tastings, families and communities across the country are coming together to admire the season’s full moon and embrace the togetherness symbolized by the occasion.

When is Mid-Autumn Festival in 2024? And why is it celebrated? It’s time to hang a lantern and rip open a mooncake as we explore the meaning of this annual event.

Moon Festival, or Mid-Autumn is a tradition celebrated in several east Asian cultures to mark the start of the harvest season. According to CNN, Mid-Autumn falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month and is celebrated as a time for families to gather to sample autumn harvests,