Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival in Singapore

Introduction

Singapore’s evening routine was in full swing, but I noticed the city seemed a little more colourful than usual. Colourful lanterns had appeared in all sorts of places, mooncakes were filling shop windows, and I suddenly found myself wondering just how many ways you could decorate something shaped like the moon. It turns out, quite a few. It was Mid-Autumn Festival.

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My introduction to the festival was completely accidental. I had actually intended to visit Gardens by the Bay in Singapore to watch the incredible Garden Rhapsody (for the millionth time — it never gets old). Instead, I stumbled across a festival I had never even heard of back in the UK.

Since I was living in Singapore, I had decided I wanted to get involved in the local culture as much as possible. There was something exciting about discovering traditions and celebrations that were completely different from those I was used to in England. And apparently, my first lesson was going to involve a lot of lanterns and mooncakes.

Arriving at the Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival lantern displays can be found in different parts of Singapore, and many of the public displays are free to visit. With several located close to MRT stations and bus stops, they are also relatively easy to get to.

The celebrations really come alive after dark, which in Singapore is probably a good thing. The temperature is a little more comfortable, the humidity has eased slightly, and the lanterns can finally show off properly. There are still plenty of people around, but the atmosphere feels relaxed and very family-oriented.

I hopped off the MRT at Bayfront Station just as darkness was settling over the city. As I walked outside, the evening air was pleasantly warm but still carried that familiar Singapore humidity.

Almost immediately, I noticed a gentle hum in the air. The chatter of families mixed with traditional music drifting on the breeze, while the city lights provided their usual spectacular backdrop.

My walk from the station took me towards Gardens by the Bay, where lanterns were strung overhead and dotted around the paths. As I got closer, the crowds grew — small groups and whole families slowly making their way towards the celebrations, everyone seeming to take their time and soak up the atmosphere.

Then I saw the lanterns properly.

I stopped in my tracks.

Delicate shapes and bright colours hovered above the pathways, completely transforming the familiar surroundings. I had gone out expecting another evening at Gardens by the Bay and had somehow found myself in full festival mode before I had even reached the main event.

I was in awe of the incredible lanterns dotted around the paths, including one floating on Dragonfly Lake. Its colourful reflection shimmered across the water beneath it, making the whole scene look almost magical.

Many of the lanterns were shaped like animals, including rabbits and turtles. But, naturally, I had one very important question:

Would I find any dinosaurs?

The Lanterns

Gardens by the Bay

As a small dinosaur, I tend to think of lanterns as the classic small, circular red ones. So, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns can be on a much larger scale.

The lanterns at Gardens by the Bay radiated light towards the crowds, and I was amazed by the sheer size of some of them. There were lanterns stretching overhead, lotus petals taller than a person and giant illuminated rabbits perched among the flowers.

Despite all the grandeur, it was the little details that really caught my eye.

Shy rabbits and smiling pandas peeked out from between the flowers, carrying lanterns shaped like pastel-coloured fruit. Everywhere I looked, there seemed to be another little character hiding among the displays.

Gardens by the Bay felt magical that evening. The familiar gardens had been completely transformed, with the animal lanterns seemingly coming to life and creating a fun, welcoming atmosphere for everyone to enjoy.

And, of course, I couldn’t help wondering whether there might be a dinosaur hiding somewhere too…

Chinatown

Chinatown had a completely different feel.

The shops along the way were dressed up for the festival, with windows crowded with colourful displays and the irresistible sight of mooncakes stacked into towers. Huge lanterns stood silently in the middle of the busy streets while families wandered between the shops and festival displays.

Intricate gold tracery shimmered whenever the headlights of passing cars caught the silk, creating little flashes of light against the busy streets.

Chinatown is already one of the liveliest areas of Singapore, so seeing it dressed up for Mid-Autumn Festival gave the celebrations a completely different atmosphere from Gardens by the Bay. Traditional scenes of families sharing mooncakes sat beneath glowing lanterns, with neon signs providing a very Singaporean backdrop.

And then, hidden among the streets of Chinatown, I spotted something very important.

A small blue lantern.

A dinosaur.

There it was — happily floating in the breeze, looking like it had been waiting patiently for Team Veganosaurus to arrive.

I was overjoyed to find one.

Mid-Autumn Festival at Jurong Lake Gardens

Jurong Lake Gardens was a completely different experience again.

Whereas Gardens by the Bay was filled with colourful animals and larger-than-life displays, Jurong Lake Gardens featured more traditional lanterns depicting the story of Chang’e and how she came to live on the moon.

Nestled in the west of Singapore, Jurong Lake Gardens doesn’t seem to attract the same number of tourists as some of the city’s better-known attractions. That made wandering around the lantern displays feel a little more peaceful.

The lanterns here were my favourites.

They were some of the largest and most traditional displays I saw, and I loved the way they brought the story of the Mid-Autumn Festival to life. Some even had flickering lights, making the scenes appear to move as you walked past them.

It was the kind of place where I wanted to slow down and look at each display properly rather than simply wandering past with my camera pointed in its general direction.

Sentosa

Sentosa Island also had its own selection of lanterns and themed areas. After seeing the sheer grandeur of the displays at Jurong Lake Gardens, though, I found these a little less impressive.

They were still worth a wander if you were already spending time on Sentosa, but for me, the traditional displays at Jurong Lake Gardens were the ones that really stood out.

Mooncakes!

Obviously, there was one very important question I needed to answer.

What does the moon taste like?

I hadn’t realised just how difficult it would be to answer that question. There seemed to be an endless number of mooncakes to choose from, with different flavours, shapes, fillings and beautifully decorated boxes.

I eventually found a small mooncake sitting inside a beautiful box that looked more suited to holding jewellery than cake. Some mooncakes are seriously expensive, while others are much more affordable, so there seemed to be something for every budget.

I tried a traditional lotus paste mooncake, as well as a pineapple-shaped mooncake filled with pineapple paste. Naturally, I was rather pleased with the pineapple one. A cake that looks like a pineapple and tastes like a pineapple? My tiny dinosaur brain approves.

If you’re looking for a huge selection of mooncakes, the basement of Takashimaya department store is the place to go. There were so many different varieties that choosing one felt less like buying a cake and more like trying to make an important life decision.

Mooncakes tasted quite different from what I was expecting. They are generally much less sweet than the cakes I’m used to eating in Europe, and the texture was probably the biggest surprise for me.

At first, I wasn’t convinced.

My furry blue brain was telling me that cake simply wasn’t supposed to feel like that.

But once I got past the unfamiliar texture, the delicate flavour of the lotus paste started to come through. It was subtle, slightly sweet and much more enjoyable than I had initially expected.

So, after all that investigation, what does the moon taste like?

Apparently, lotus paste and pineapple.

Who knew?

What is the Mid-Autumn Festival?

I had never heard of the Mid-Autumn Festival before visiting Singapore, but Chinese mythology has always fascinated me. Naturally, once I realised I’d stumbled across a festival centred around the moon, I wanted to find out more.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important celebrations in the Chinese lunar calendar. It takes place each year on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, when the moon is traditionally at its fullest and brightest.

The festival is closely connected with the autumn harvest and is a time for families and friends to come together, admire the full moon, share mooncakes and enjoy lanterns lighting up the night.

And, as I discovered, Singapore takes making beautiful lanterns very seriously.

Conclusion

I hadn’t planned on experiencing the Mid-Autumn Festival that evening. I had simply gone to Gardens by the Bay to watch Garden Rhapsody for what was probably the millionth time. Instead, I discovered something completely new.

Over the next few days, I wandered through glowing lantern displays, learned about the stories behind the festival, admired the full moon and, of course, ate my way through a few mooncakes (I’m still trying to work off those extra calories).

What I loved most was how different each celebration felt. From the enormous, colourful displays at Gardens by the Bay to the traditional lanterns at Jurong Lake Gardens, and the unexpected little blue dinosaur hiding in Chinatown, there was always something else to discover.

Sometimes the best travel experiences are the ones you don’t plan. You just wander off to see something you’ve already seen a hundred times, turn a corner and discover a whole new side of the city.

And if you’re lucky, you might even find a dinosaur along the way.