What's On
A FREE Chinese festival with traditional street food is coming to Manchester’s Chinatown
There will also be traditional Chinese lion dancing, street kung fu lessons, and archery sessions across the weekend…
Manchester’s Chinatown is set to host a FREE three-day-long ancient moon festival to commemorate the national Chinese tradition.
After a three-year break, the Manchester Moon Festival will be coming back to Manchester to bring the cultural atmosphere of the traditional celebration to the city.
The ancient moon festival – sometimes known as the mid-autumn festival – is held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar with a full moon at night, and has been celebrated in China for over 3,000 years.
According to Chinese legend, the Moon Festival relates to the legend of Chang’e, the Chinese Moon goddess of immortality.
Manchester Moon Festival
In one legendary tale, Chang’e flew upward past Heaven and chose the moon as her residence, meaning that Chinese people use the Moon festival to respect and make offerings to the goddess.
The festival traditionally brings together families and communities to give thanks and pray with quality food, drink and an array of celebrations and festivities.
And next week, Mancunians will be able to immerse themselves within these historic traditions thanks to the return of the Manchester Moon Festival.
From Friday September 9th – Sunday September 11th, local businesses will be dishing up some incredible Chinese street food in Chinatown’s central car park, including Wang Wang Bakery, PinWei, Chatime Manchester, and many others.
Manchester Moon Festival
Alongside the delicious selection of Chinese cuisine, visitors will also be able to join in with traditional Chinese lion dancing, street kung fu lessons, and archery at its archery game stall.
A mystery Chinese legend is also expected to make an appearance at the festival, so make sure to stay posted for further announcements from the organisers.
The Manchester Moon Festival will be open from 2pm – 9pm on Friday September 9th, and from 12pm – 9pm on Saturday and Sunday, September 10th and 11th.
The festival is completely free to enter – for more information, visit the official Manchester Moon Festival website.