When is the Mooncake Festival Celebrated?
The Mooncake Festival takes place during late September and early October. In 2024, this fantastic festival falls on the 17th of September.
Where To Witness the Mooncake Festival in Singapore?
Singapore does not have a fixed venue to celebrate the Mooncake Festival. However, Chinatown is beautifully adorned with lanterns, garlands, and lights. Besides the extraordinary lamps on display, Chinatown also hosts carnivals with cultural performances. It is a popular hub among food connoisseurs owing to the different brands of mooncakes put up for sale.
Mooncake Festival Celebrations
Since the Chinese community of Singapore makes up at least 74% of the total population, the Mooncake Festival is one of the most massive local celebrations in the city. It is the time when the moon shines the brightest, and people come out to celebrate after twilight falls heavily over them.
The Moon Viewing Ceremony
A popular tradition during the Mooncake Festival is the moon-viewing ceremony. During the moon viewing ceremony, family and friends gather beneath the soft moonlight in their gardens or rooftops, watching the incredible celestial body while sipping tea or eating mooncakes. The houses are ornate with glowing lanterns and fairy lights. The evening sky, too, is beautifully adorned with colorful lanterns that people set afloat as soon as the sun sets.
Local Festivities
Besides entertainment, people also indulge in learning more about Chinese culture and the famous legend of Chang’E during this festival. As the festival's name suggests, the Mooncake Festival hosts mooncake-loaded restaurants and hotels. From greeting people to gorging on these mouth-watering mooncakes, from expressing gratitude to bowing down in prayer, a festive aura encompasses Singapore as its people set out to dress the city with glittering colors.
Lantern Highlights
These lanterns are created in extraordinary shapes – from dragons to ducks, from butterflies to buses; the sky lit up with these beautiful creations is a sight to behold. Large lanterns are showcased in a few places within the city so that people can enjoy the marvelous artistry and craftsmanship. Lantern-painting competitions are also quite popular on this day. Many roadside stalls offer samples of mooncakes and tea to the people thronging the streets. People visit each other and exchange gifts as a gesture of gratitude. All in all, the Mooncake Festival is full of warmth, joy, merriment, and thankfulness.
Significance of the Mooncake Festival
Although everything about the Mooncake Festival is unique, what makes it extraordinary are the taste-bud-appealing mooncakes, which will make you want more with each bite! That is not all. Legend has it that the mooncakes played a prime role in overthrowing the Mongols and liberating Yuan China in the 14th Century. How? During the Mongolian Rule, there used to be a ban on large social gatherings. However, the rebel leader Zhu Yuan Zhang laid the foundation of a rebellion by planting confidential messages on mooncakes. The rebellion against the Mongols commenced in Mid-Autumn and took the symbolism of the mooncakes to a whole new level altogether.
History of the Mooncake Festival
The full moon during autumn has been worshipped by the Chinese since the Shang Dynasty, roughly falling between 1600 BCE – 1046 BCE. However, the worship began to be transformed into a full-fledged festival only during the early years of the Tang Dynasty (618 CE – 907 CE). There are quite a few stories of the origin of the Mooncake Festival. However, the ones that have been passed over the generations are the tales connected to Chang’E.
The Legend of Chang'E
Two different tales are connected to the Moon Goddess of Immortality, Chang'E. According to Lihui Yang's "Handbook of Chinese Mythology," there was an excellent archer in the ancient past named Hou Yi. He saved the earth and its people from the ten suns that rose, circling the sky together by shooting down nine of them and thus preventing the ground from scorching. This act of bravery led an immortal to admire him and present him with an elixir of immortality.
Yi and Chang'E - A Mythical Tragedy
Yi was married to Chang'E and did not wish to be immortal without her, so he handed it to her possession. However, soon after, one of Yi’s apprentices, Peng Meng, learned of this secret and wished to use the elixir for himself. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, he broke into Yi's house in his absence and pestered Chang'E to hand over the elixir to him. Chang'E drank the potion herself to prevent this and ascended to the moon. After Yi arrived, he learned what had happened and began a ritual of offering his wife’s favorite fruits and cakes in his yard. Soon, other people found out about the incident, and out of sympathy, they also participated in these rites.
Alternate Version of the Legend
In an alternate version of the legend, after Hou Yi defeated the nine suns, he was declared king by the people. However, soon after his rule began, he became a tyrannical ruler. To live as an immortal, he asked for an elixir of immortality from Xi Wang Mu. To save the people from the eternal rule of the vain Yi, Chang'E stole the elixir and drank it herself, following which she flew up to the moon and became the moon goddess. Overcome by spite, Hou Yi died soon after. As an offering to Chang'E for her sacrifice, the people praised her and displayed cakes and fruits in their gardens and yards. Since then, the Mid-Autumn Festival began to be celebrated.
Chinatown Celebrations
How to Reach Chinatown
The Chinatown MRT Station is right at the heart of the district. Also, Clarke Quay, Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar, and Outram Park are all just a short walk away from Chinatown.
Chinese Garden Festivities
Another place you should not miss if you wish to witness the Mooncake Festival in all its glory is the Chinese Garden. Here, the streets are also decorated with stunning lanterns and fragrant flowers, and stalls selling mooncakes and tea are lined up along the pavements.
How to Reach Chinese Garden
The Chinese Garden MRT is the nearest station, five minutes from the gardens.
The Mooncake Festival is the perfect occasion to indulge in gratitude actively. It is the ideal festival to cheat your diet with some delicious and delectable mooncakes. So, fuel the artist in you as you set colorful lanterns into the sky and enjoy the festive culture around you.