Dragons, lanterns, and fireworks: Mid-Autumn Festival returns to Nanaimo

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Hong said around 4,000 people attended the first year, with over 10,000 attending last year, with even more expected for the 2026 edition. (Image Credit: Submitted/Jerry Hong)

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Hong said the weekend will bring together “traditional Chinese culture and family-friendly entertainment”, including lion and dragon dances, traditional art and cultural performances, thousands of lanterns, and fireworks on Saturday night, all free of charge.

Food trucks and other vendors will also be on site.

Lanterns will be available by donation to decorate, and they’re free for kids.

The lanterns, made of wood, paper and LED candles, will be collected at the end of the night by festival volunteers. (Image Credit: Submitted/Nanaimo Chinese Cultural Society)

On Friday night, prior to the Disney movie, ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ being featured, participants can decorate and release a lantern into the Swy-a-Lana Lagoon, believed to bring good harvest and a bright future.

And the lantern parade will have a unique leader, another new addition this year, a ten-foot-long glowing dragon.

“We’re going to have the spectators follow the dragon with their lanterns in their hands, going over the bridge, and then we’ll have our lion dancer following them as a parade to the movie, and that all happens at 7:45 on Friday night, and then on Saturday we have our fireworks, which is the only fireworks in downtown Nanaimo.”

Festival attendees will have no problem following the lantern parade, led by this glowing, ten-foot-long dragon. (Image Credit: Submitted/Nanaimo Chinese Cultural Society)

The festival traditionally takes place in the middle of the eighth month of the lunar calendar when the moon is the brightest.

This year, that date is actually Sept. 26, but the Mid-Autumn Festival was pushed back a week so it didn’t compete with the Vancouver Island Exhibition, taking place Sept. 25-27.

Also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, this event has been celebrated across Asian countries for centuries, and Hong’s group has worked in collaboration with other local organizations to bring it all together.

“Without the help of other cultures like the Seven Potatoes, the Japanese Society here helping us, putting on some taiko drumming and some dancing, and then we have taekwondo demonstrations and tai chi. It’s a very diverse and multicultural event.”

More information on the Mid-Autumn Festival can be found here on their Facebook page.

Hong said the fireworks they’re launching off the crab dock at 8 p.m. on Saturday are smaller and don’t go as high into the sky, to minimize their impact on local pets and wildlife, with the best views from downtown Nanaimo. (Image Credit: Submitted/Jerry Hong)

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