Mid-Autumn Festival celebration in Honolulu's Chinatown
Honolulu's Chinatown is throwing a full-day Mid-Autumn Festival on September 19, a free family event for anyone looking for something to do that weekend.
- The festival runs 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Chinatown Cultural Plaza, put on by Chinatown 808.
- A lantern parade steps off up Maunakea Street at 6:30 p.m., and people are invited to bring their own lanterns.
- Expect lantern making, lion and dragon dancing, Chinese dance, taiko drumming, and live rabbits to pet — a nod to the jade rabbit of moon legend.
- Legend Seafood Restaurant is serving handmade mooncakes, tea leaf mochi, and taro bao from a booth outside, open until 9 p.m.
Outlook: The holiday marks the harvest and honors the moon goddess, and organizers are pitching it as a celebration shared across Asian cultures, not just Chinese ones.