Chinese Mooncakes
Depending on where you are in the world, the fall season conjures up a time for harvests, changing foliage or…in some places, the height of art and culture. Though autumn darkens the evening sky sooner in September and October, over 120 cities around the world light up “White Nights” to showcase galleries, museums and other spaces that display right-brain creations. Similarly, in Hawaii, there’s a six-week celebration of culture called Aloha Festivals. And around the same time, China lights up with its Moon Festival. From east to west, here are a few illuminating events around the world where it’s worth hitting the streets in the fall.
One night a year in early October, the City of Lights pulls an all-nighter. Nuit Blanche, which literally translated means “White Night” in French, is a veritable non-slumber party where more than a hundred cultural institutions are open to the public all night—and for free. It’s an amazing opportunity to wander monuments and museums like the Louvre, Notre Dame and even parks and universities by moon and streetlights. If you manage to make it to sunrise, the city hall in each quarter hosts breakfasts to revive you. In recent years, this tradition has grown in popularity and has been spreading to more and more cities worldwide. Toronto, Madrid and even Rome stage their own version of White Night. What’s a little sleeplessness for enlightenment!
Hawaii
In case you plan to be in the Pacific region during the fall, get ready to take in way more than one night of culture. You’re invited to a street party that extends across six islands—Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and the Big Island of Hawaii—over six vibrant weeks in September and October. Although the timing is in part to attract visitors after the summer rush, it also takes place to honor the makahiki, the ancient Hawaiian time of music, dance and feasting when war was forbidden. The price of admission? Your party hat, dancing shoes and an appetite for all things Hawaiian. Haven’t you always wanted to try poi? Here’s your chance to immerse yourself not only in the native customs but to experience the adopted traditions of Japan, the Philippines and various other cultures who call Hawaii home. It takes 30,000 volunteers to pull together concerts, parades and street parties called ho‘olaule‘a. So plan ahead and book early, nearly a million festivalgoers descend on the islands to take part in the only statewide culture jam in the United States.
China and Vietnam
In the east, lanterns light up for a festival dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in the Zhou Dynasty. On the 15th day in the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, the day that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar calendar, China and Vietnam celebrate the end of the fall harvest. Simply named, the Zhongqiu Jie, or Mid-Autumn Festival, is timed to when the moon is at its fullest and roundest. Maybe that’s why elsewhere in Asia, it’s known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival. And surprise, surprise—the traditional food of the season? Moon cakes! But of several different varieties. It’s popular tradition for family and friends to gather under the mid-autumn harvest moon and eat moon cakes and pomelos together. Sounds fairly tame, right? It’s also customary to burn incense as sign of respect to deities. And traditionally, family members pass dandelion leaves to one another for good luck. But just when it seems like all is calm and tranquil, Fire dragon dances spring up in celebration. All the while, locals hang brightly lit lanterns on high points such as towers, trees and rooftops (as if trying to outdo the moon.)
Just because the days grow shorter in the fall doesn’t mean your travel options are short on festivities. Different countries have their ways of lighting up the autumn season. You might look at these festivals as living interactive “museums” that shed light on traditions and cultural events. And if you’re lucky enough to be in these regions on an Explorica tour, we hope you’ll experience how fall can be a colorful season in more ways than you imagined.