Overview
The Mid-Autumn Festival — one of the most-celebrated dates in the Chinese calendar — is coming up soon, on Tuesday, September 17. Known alternatively as the Moon Festival or the more mouth-watering Mooncake Festival, it's a global Chinese celebration inspired by — you guessed it — the moon.
Yes, we know Australia is only in mid-spring, but it's mid-autumn in China, and stacks of Melbourne restaurants, bars and public spaces are celebrating across the week. If you're keen to join in on the fun, check out this guide to find Melbourne's best Mid-Autumn Festival events.
Recommended reads:
The Best Things to Do This Weekend in Melbourne
The Best Things to Do This Week in Melbourne
The Best Yum Cha in Melbourne
Visit Victoria
Chinatown's Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration
On Saturday, September 14, China Town's Golden Square Carpark will host one of Melbourne's best Mid-Autumn Festival events. Get around llion and dragon dances, Sichuan face-changing and dance performances, live music and heaps of food. Be sure to hit up some of the restaurants and bars in the area before or after checking out some of the shows.
And come Sunday, September 15, the Museum of Chinese Australian History will be running a bunch of activities, including mooncake-making demonstrations, mooncake decorating workshops and lantern-making classes.
Le Yeahllow's Moon-Inspired Cake
For the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, Le Yeahllow has created a totally luxe Jade Ring Mooncake (玉轮) inspired by the moon. This $106 cake (yeah, this is for those wanting to really treat the fam with a bougie sweet treat) combines Genmaicha Bavarian cream with coconut dacquoise, salted egg yolk crèmeux and chocolate feuilletine.
As it is with all Le Yeahllow desserts, these decadent cakes are made with great precision and care. It's also the kind of treat that your average at-home baker could never dream of recreating. The cake is said to feed five to eight people, but we're sure you can make it go further if you need to.
Queen Vic Market's Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
On Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22, Queen Vic Market will once again celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival with two days of food, drinks and live entertainment.
Across the weekend, Chinese street food stalls will pop up in the usual festival section of the market, alongside a few other traders selling international eats. You can also watch some obligator lion dances and live music, and participate in some cultural workshops.
Melbourne Yum Cha Lunches
Having a big yum cha lunch has got to be one of the best ways to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in Melbourne, especially if you want to stay away from all the crowds and kids at your usual Moon Festival events. Simply book a seat with the fam — or your mates — and create your own feast with all kinds of dim sum dishes.
Our favoruite yum cha spots in Melbourne include Crystal Jade Restaurant, David's (which is bottomless), Oriental Teahouse, Red Door Yum Cha, Shu (which is totally vegan), Secret Kitchen CBD, Moonhouse, Mahjong Restaurant, Shark Fin Inn and Mya Tiger. Any of these spots will satisfy your yum cha cravings, but you can also check out our Chinese restaurant guide for more Moon Festival dining spots.
Fed Square's Chinese Traditional Cultural Festival
Fed Square's annual Chinese Traditional Cultural Festival returns once again this year, bringing a stack of cultural performances and activities to the public space.
On Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22, Fed Square will be taken over by Chinese street food stalls, tea ceremonies, kid's activities (like creating paper lanterns), traditional games, stage performances, market stalls and, of course, mooncakes. There'll be two huge days of family-friendly fun.
Decadent Mooncakes From Aurum Poultry Co. and Atelier Josun
For this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, specialty poultry producer Aurum Poultry Co. has teamed up with Chef Jo Chan (Atelier Josun) to create limited-edition mooncakes that showcase the unique characteristics of of the producer's salted duck eggs. The $59 boxes come with six mooncakes (three of each of the two flavours), and are incredibly decadent.
The first white lotus mooncake is a twist on the classic mooncake dessert, blending sweet lotus seed paste with the rich, savoury notes of salted egg yolk. The second option is a playful twist on the much-loved custard mooncake – a 1986 sensation that continues to captivate Hong Kong locals each Moon Festival. These aren't cheap but they have got to be some of the best mooncakes in Melbourne.