It’s not an exaggeration to call Mid-Autumn Festival the world’s largest full moon party. Even Labubu, the wildly popular Pop Mart toy, has been known to celebrate the event.  

Falling on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the festival is marked primarily across East and Southeast Asia as a night for families to gather, enjoy the harvest, light lanterns and admire what’s believed to be the roundest moon of the year.

In 2025, the Mid-Autumn Festival, or the Moon Festival, is celebrated on October 6. You can count on plenty of mooncakes, pomelos and more moon-connected essentials as part of traditions marking the ancient holiday.

And in Birmingham the city was celebrating in full mode and wanted some theatre to mark the Mid Autumn Festival - the second most important festival in the Chinese year.  

Theatre duties were supplied by playwright Ian Henery and friends who had been successful in getting an Arts Council England grant to develop theatre for the Birmingham Chinese community.  They had been successful earlier that day in performing their version of the Chinese creation myth to no less than two sold out performances at the Birmingham Exhibition and Conference Centre.  A staggering 1,500 people had bought tickets to see the show which was directed by award winning director Ranjit Khutan.  

"Our vision is  a thriving Birmingham Chinatown" said Dorian Chan, Secretary General  of Birmingham China Town Business Association  "recognised by the authorities and general public as a tourist destination, attracting visitors to admire Chinese architectural features such as stone lions, archways, and pavilions. We aim for it to become a prosperous hub for both business and culture."

Our mission is to foster connections among businesses in Birmingham Chinatown and establish a collaborative platform for mutual support. We actively engage in improving issues such as security, health and logistics  within Birmingham Chinatown, while also promoting the organisation of large-scale events such as the Lunar New Year celebrations, Mid-Autumn Festival and Birmingham Pride. Through these efforts, we are dedicated to creating a vibrant and lively environment that provides opportunities for business prosperity."