What to Know
- Chinatown Moon Festival
- Saturday, Sept. 17, 5 to 10 p.m.
- Free
Southern California has a number of notable festivals, enduring celebrations that are full of festive flair, cultural significance, and community spirit.
And the Chinatown Moon Festival? This sparkly evening event is one of the centerpieces of this important local pantheon, a delicious, performance-filled fest that welcomes everyone for free, no reservation or ticket required.
The lunar lark will rise, with all of the brightness and beauty of the festival's namesake, from 5 to 10 o'clock on Saturday, Sept. 17.
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Moon cakes are always among the sweet stars of the happening, and a demonstration will show attendees just how to make the moon-inspired confections. There shall be tastings, too, if all of the informative instruction stokes your cake-loving appetite (totally to be expected, oh yum).
Lion dances, music featuring traditional Chinese instruments, and "Moon Festival" rituals will round out the five-hour festivity, a gathering that shall ebulliently unfurl in the heart of LA's Chinatown.
Something else that brims with heart and happiness? The Children's Parade, long a cute component of the festival, will return, so be sure to be there ahead of the procession's 7:30 start time.
Organizers provided the festival's history on the event page: "The first Moon Festival dates back to 1938 in Los Angeles Chinatown. The 1941 festival drew a crowd over 30,000 people to raise funds for United China Relief, an agency that sent supplies to Chinese refugees during World War II."
Beyond venerable, a true treasure, and an ethereal way to look forward to autumn: The Chinatown Moon Festival rises on summer's final Saturday.
