A lunar lantern celebration Oct 1, 2020

A lunar lantern celebration

The Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, is a celebration of the autumn harvest observed by the Chinese and other Asian peoples. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the full moon closest to the fall equinox. Originally a plea to the gods for rains to ensure a good harvest next year, Mid-Autumn Festival has become a more secular bit of autumn fun, with children and adults gathering to give thanks, eat sweet mooncakes, and light lanterns like the hand-painted ones we"re looking at here from a previous celebration in Singapore. This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival coincidentally lands on another holiday, China"s National Day.

© Khin/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Oct 1, 2018It’s NASA’s 60th birthday
Oct 1, 2019It s Coffee Day
Oct 1, 2021What s better than a smile?
Oct 1, 2022Yosemite National Park turns 132
Oct 1, 2023Lake Bled, Slovenia
Oct 1, 2024Yosemite National Park anniversary
Oct 1, 2025Clark Range, Yosemite National Park, California

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Oct 23, 2018Of moles and liquid nitrogen
Jun 16, 2021Put your flippers in the air…
May 15, 2021Happy Astronomy Day!
Dec 21, 2022Winter solstice
Feb 11, 2019There’s a dog in there somewhere
Aug 15, 2020Celebrating the Acadians
Oct 9, 2020Falling for Tennessee
Dec 18, 2025Celebrating 54 years of Capitol Reef National Park
Jul 22, 2019Let’s go mothing
Jun 18, 2019From garden to table?
Oct 30, 2022Polar Bear Week
Feb 15, 2019Snow aglow in central Japan
May 29, 2018The first ascent
May 1, 2025Lei Day in Hawaii
May 12, 2021A visit to Limerick on Limerick Day
Oct 18, 2021A Welsh wonder turns 70
Jan 15, 2018Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC
Apr 22, 2019Meet our fuzzy Earth Day mascot
Aug 21, 2025A wheatear in Peak District National Park, England
Oct 4, 2025World Space Week
Apr 24, 2024White trilliums blooming in Ontario, Canada
Jun 5, 2024World Environment Day
Jan 8, 2018Gardens by the Bay nature park, Singapore
Feb 11, 2020Celebrating women in science
Sep 19, 2023Splügen Pass, Switzerland
Jan 21, 2018Red squirrel in Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
Feb 5, 2018Iceberg off the coast of Antarctica
Jul 19, 2025National Moth Week
Oct 8, 2025World Octopus Day
Apr 8, 2019Ready, set, read