Moon-watching tips for Mid-Autumn Festival 2026
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 25 (Friday) this year. Although the full moon will occur in the early hours of September 27 (Sunday) (i.e. late at night on the day following the Mid-Autumn Festival), a bright and round moon can still be seen at night during the Mid-Autumn Festival period, if weather permits.
Photo source: reference image
To facilitate moon watching by the public, the times of moonrise, transit, moonset and full moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival period are listed in the table. At transit, the moon passes the local meridian, reaching its highest elevation of the night, when it is due south.
September 24 (Thursday) – the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival
Moonrise
4.47pm
Transit (elevation 58 degrees)
10.40pm
Moonset
4.38am (next morning)
September 25 (Friday) – Mid-Autumn Festival
Moonrise
5.20pm
Transit (elevation 65 degrees)
11.24pm
Moonset
5.33am (next morning)
September 26 (Saturday) – the day following the Mid-Autumn Festival
Moonrise
5.54pm
Transit (elevation 71 degrees)
0.09am (next morning)
Full moon
0.49am (next morning)
Moonset
6.29am (next morning)
Photo source: reference image
Please refer to the 9-day Weather Forecast issued by the Hong Kong Observatory and the Weather Information for Astronomical Observation webpage for the latest weather and astronomical observing conditions during the Mid-Autumn Festival period to facilitate planning of moon-watching activities.
Photo source: reference image
Note: At full moon, the moon is completely illuminated as seen from the Earth, with the moon and the sun located on the opposite sides of the Earth.
Remarks by CE at media session before ExCo
Following are the remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at a media session before the Executive Council meeting today (September 15):
Reporter: Good morning, Chief Executive. So, regarding the faulty lift installation work at Queen Mary Hospital, why didn't the Government trigger the Heads of Department Accountability System? And do you think that any officials should be held accountable? And how will you ensure that the chief project manager's resignation does not hinder the investigation? And for Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan, how many indicators will you outline in the document? And what areas will the binding targets cover? Will you set up indicators for key areas such as the Northern Metropolis development and population policy? Thank you.
Chief Executive: Queen Mary Hospital's lifts are not properly functioning. These problems need to be rectified very, very quickly. Medical services are very important, and the new clinical block must be open for service as soon as possible. We will pursue accountability, including that of the contractor, subcontractors, engineering personnel, and professionals. And if there are government personnel involved, we will pursue their accountability as well. We also need to identify where and whether the system has any inadequacies and rectify them. The Development Bureau has given me a preliminary briefing. I have asked them to thoroughly investigate the matter and report within a month. To consider what further action we will do, we must fact-find very clearly what happened and where the inadequacies are, and whether any person should be held accountable. We should pursue their accountability. After we have found out the facts, then we'll decide what further steps we shall take.
In regard to Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan, which I will make public tomorrow, there will be indicators set in the Five-Year Plan, and there will be indicators which are binding and indicators which are anticipatory. And I think for any government that sets indicators, we consider similar factors. There are things we must do, and they are binding on the Government particularly. And there are things we want to do very much, but we need everybody to participate. While the Government will lead, and the Government will co-ordinate resources and make the right policies, everybody has to play their part in order to achieve the best result.
I want to make it very clear: the Five-Year Plan is not a planned economy. It is a plan which tells us where the strategic directions are, where we are heading, and which are the priority areas. And then it is a blueprint for us to implement in five years' time. So when we roll out policies each year, we also have to ascertain priorities, so that at the end of the five years, we will reach certain goals. Tomorrow, when I make public Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan, and also announce my Policy Address, people will be able to have the two documents together, look at what the blueprint says, look at what indicators there are, and how the Policy Address will roll out policies to implement that blueprint, and also set indicators, both binding and anticipatory, for all these goals to be achieved.
I know everybody will be very keen on the contents of the two documents. I'll do my best to introduce and explain all the details. I will be introducing it in LegCo (Legislative Council), and then I will hold a press conference in the afternoon. And there will also be a forum for me to talk to the TV media. The next day, there will be another occasion where I'll be talking to the public through a radio forum, and then there will be a LegCo interactive Q&A session. So there will be a lot of opportunities for us to go through the contents of both the Five-Year Plan and also the Policy Address.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, met the media before the Executive Council meeting this morning (September 15). Photo shows Mr Lee holding the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030) and the Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address Highlights to be delivered tomorrow (September 16). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, met the media before the Executive Council meeting this morning (September 15). Photo shows Mr Lee holding the Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address to be delivered tomorrow (September 16). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, met the media before the Executive Council meeting this morning (September 15). Photo shows Mr Lee holding the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030) to be delivered tomorrow (September 16). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, met the media before the Executive Council meeting this morning (September 15). Photo shows Mr Lee holding the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030) and the Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address to be delivered tomorrow (September 16). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, met the media before the Executive Council meeting this morning (September 15). Photo shows Mr Lee holding the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030) and the Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address to be delivered tomorrow (September 16). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
