Auckland celebrates Asian traditions with 'unique' Moon Festival

Thousands gathered in Auckland on Friday for the Moon Festival, a three-day celebration to mark the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most important annual celebrations in Asia.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 6 October this year, providing families with an opportunity to gather, admire the full moon and celebrate harvest season in the Northern Hemisphere.

On opening night, large crowds flocked to Potters Park and Balmoral to bask in the glow of 50 giant handcrafted lanterns imported from China.

Organisers said they expected about 30,000 people to attend the three-day festival, which runs through Sunday.

Five side streets off Dominion Road have been transformed into themed displays for the event, featuring lanterns depicting mythology, reunion, folklore, poetry and lunar exploration.

Festival highlights include a three-meter-high moon lantern on Wiremu Street that has been placed beside a figure representing the moon goddess Chang'e, evoking the mythical Guanghan Palace where she is said to live.

A steady stream of passers-by stopped to photograph the display throughout Friday evening.

Vicky Wang, who has lived in New Zealand for about 12 years, attended the Moon Festival with her parents who were visiting from Shanghai.

Wang said it was the first time the family had celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in New Zealand.

"I really wanted to bring them to experience my life here, so I wouldn't feel lonely," Wang said.

Wang's favourite lantern was one depicting Nezha, the child warrior from Chinese mythology that has been turned into an animated box-office hit.

She said the display was a meaningful way to represent Chinese culture.

"I feel really proud [the festival] brings our culture to people from different countries," she said.

"There are many stories behind the lanterns," she said. "If people enjoy them, they might want to learn more and understand the origins of Chinese culture."

Geoff Joe, a third-generation Chinese New Zealander, brought his wife and son to the Moon Festival on Friday.

Although he was born in New Zealand, Joe grew up with vivid memories of traditional festival foods and the warmth of family gatherings.

"It was a long time ago now," he said. "My grandma would make very traditional Chinese food. It would be a big sharing table with all the grandparents, my parents, aunties, uncles and cousins."

Joe felt proud his nine-month-old son was able to experience Chinese culture at his first mid-autumn celebration.

"It's a really good opportunity to bring our son to experience it," he said. "We want him to experience his own culture, and we think that's important for him."

Joe said celebrations of traditional festivals such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lunar New Year could showcase cultural diversity to people of all backgrounds as the city's demographics evolved.

Alongside the lantern displays, food stalls offered another way for visitors to experience Chinese culture.

Dozens of food stalls were lined up opposite Potters Park on Balmoral Road, showcasing a variety of dishes.

One of the busiest stalls belonged to Siwen Sun, whose mooncakes attracted long queues.

Sun said mooncakes are an indispensable part of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and she had prepared hundreds for the occasion, from traditional Cantonese varieties to flower-shaped pastries.

She also introduced a creative twist: snow-skin mooncakes made with white kidney bean paste.

"Even though it's not autumn here in New Zealand, we still celebrate according to Mid-Autumn Festival traditions," Sun said.

"In China, people eat many kinds of mooncakes during the holiday, so we make a variety for Aucklanders as well."

Peng Wang, who is from Shandong province in eastern China, brought one of China's oldest confections - dragon's beard candy - to the Moon Festival.

"Dragon's beard candy was a famous snack in ancient China and once a royal treat for emperors," Wang said.

"Eating it represents good luck and prosperity, and it carries unique cultural meaning."

Wang said dragon's beard candy has become a delicacy enjoyed during the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival in China. Its preparation is intricate, with each step imbued with symbolic meaning.

"One wrap of the sugary threads means smooth sailing, two brings good fortune and three symbolises prosperity," he said.

"Dragon beard candy is more than a sweet - it's a bearer of blessings and carries an auspicious meaning."

The Auckland Moon Festival, organized by the Balmoral Chinese Business Association, runs through Sunday.

Gavin Zhang, vice-president of the association, said the inaugural Dominion Road Moon Festival was held in 2019.

It was renamed the Auckland Moon Festival in 2024 to appeal to a broader audience and has since become a platform for cultural exchange.

"There are so many migrants in Auckland now," he said. "We hope Chinese culture can integrate deeply with the city's diverse communities."

Zhang said the festival showcased a range of cultural performances and traditional folk displays.

On Saturday and Sunday, audiences will be able to witness a Yingge dance, a vigorous folk dance from the Chaoshan region of Guangdong province in southern China.

What's more, a moon-worship ceremony will take place on the main stage at Potters Park at 8:30pm on Sunday.

Organizers said traffic management would be in place throughout the festival.

Visitors were advised to use public transport to travel to and from the event, as parking was likely to be limited.

The entrance to five side streets connected to Dominion Road - Wiremu Street, Rocklands Avenue, Halston Road, Queens Avenue and Tennyson Avenue - would be closed to traffic, with additional parking restrictions on Dominion Road.

The closures will be lifted at midnight and reinstated at midday each day of the festival.

The Auckland Moon Festival continues this afternoon from 2pm to 10pm and Sunday from 2pm to 9:30pm.