Mooncake Festival Baltimore 2026: Full Guide and How to Get There

The Mooncake Festival Baltimore 2026 runs Friday through Sunday, September 25–27, at South Point – West Covington Park in South Baltimore. Organized by Dream Asia Festival, this Mid-Autumn celebration features 80+ food vendors, handmade and brand-name mooncakes, live headliners, lion dance, taiko drumming, and a full kids zone. General admission runs $10–$12, VIP is $39, and children 10 and under enter free. The Mid-Autumn Festival — the traditional harvest holiday this event celebrates — falls on September 25, 2026, making the opening night date-aligned with the holiday itself. If you are planning to attend, the two things worth sorting before you go are your ticket session and how you are getting to a South Baltimore park where onsite parking is limited and $20 a car.

At-a-Glance: Mooncake Festival Baltimore 2026

What Is the Mooncake Festival in Baltimore?

The Mooncake Festival Baltimore is a three-day Mid-Autumn Festival celebration organized by Dream Asia Festival, held September 25–27, 2026, at South Point – West Covington Park in South Baltimore. It centers on the mooncake — the traditional Asian pastry eaten during the Mid-Autumn season — and pairs a full mooncake lineup with Asian street food, live cultural performances, market vendors, and family activities. The Mid-Autumn Festival, also called the Moon Festival, is observed on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, which lands on September 25 in 2026, making this event date-aligned with the holiday itself.

What you will actually find on the grounds:

Mooncakes across the spectrum — handmade traditional styles with lotus seed and red bean fillings, creative modern flavors like matcha and mochi, and major-brand offerings from well-known bakeries, all in one place to taste and compare side by side. 80+ food vendors and 30+ market vendors — Asian street food, fusion bites, trendy desserts, plus pop-culture, artist, and anime merch stalls. Cultural performances — lion dance, taiko drumming, a K-Star Circus kungfu journey, and a K-pop dance play on the main stage across all three days. Family activities — a kids zone, petting zoo, Chinese calligraphy and other hands-on workshops, and a Saturday dachshund race with a cash prize for the winning pup.

When Is the Mooncake Festival Baltimore 2026 and What Are the Hours?

The Mooncake Festival Baltimore 2026 runs September 25–27, 2026, with different hours each day: Friday from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and both Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Tickets are sold by session, but once you are inside during your chosen session you can stay as long as you like. Friday is the shorter evening kickoff — a good option if you want to avoid the weekend crowds and still sample the food vendors and catch opening-night energy. Saturday and Sunday are the full twelve-hour days when the headliner performances, the dachshund race, calligraphy workshops, and most family programming run.

The music headliners cluster on the weekend: Gun Boi Kaz performs 7:00–8:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, Seduza takes the stage 8:00–9:00 p.m. Saturday, and Justin Park closes Sunday 8:20–9:20 p.m. If a specific act is your reason for going, buy the session that covers that evening slot.

How Much Are Mooncake Festival Baltimore Tickets?

Mooncake Festival Baltimore tickets are $10–$12 for general admission and $39 for VIP, with children 10 and under entering free and needing no ticket. The first 1,000 early-bird general admission tickets were $10; standard general admission runs to $12. VIP adds all-day entry with re-entry, a VIP-only first hour, an express check-in lane, a premium lounge, a stage-side VIP area, a mooncake, and a Dream Asia merchandise item.

Where Do You Park at the Mooncake Festival Baltimore?

Mooncake Festival Baltimore parking is available onsite for $20 per car, or $15 per car if you reserve in advance online at balpenparking.com. To drive in, take Interstate 95 to Exit 55 toward Baltimore Peninsula and West Covington Park. Because South Point sits in a developing South Baltimore peninsula district with finite lot capacity, pre-booking is the difference between a $15 guaranteed spot and circling a full lot on a Saturday afternoon when the festival is at peak attendance. If you are driving, reserve your parking when you buy your tickets — not on the morning of. Families and groups coming from outside Baltimore may also prefer Maryland limo service or airport transportation to avoid dealing with parking altogether.

A practical note on the evening exodus: because Saturday and Sunday both run to 10:00 p.m. and the headliner sets end the night, a large share of the crowd leaves in the same tight window — exactly when rideshare surge pricing spikes and the onsite lot bottlenecks at the peninsula exit. South Point sits on a narrow peninsula with limited road access, so even a modest crowd surge creates real delays at the single exit point.

If you are coming as a group, or traveling from the DC area or the BWI corridor for the weekend, a fixed-rate car service can drop your party at the 100 W Dickman St rideshare point and pick you up on a set time after the last set, which sidesteps both the $20 parking hunt and the 10 p.m. surge when the lot empties all at once.

What Is There to Do at the Mooncake Festival Besides Eat?

Beyond the 80+ food vendors, the Mooncake Festival Baltimore programs a full slate of cultural performances, competitions, and hands-on activities across all three days. The main stage carries lion dance, taiko drumming, the K-Star Circus kungfu performance, an MC-and-comedy set from Yaqiao Yang, and a K-pop dance play. Away from the stage, there are Chinese calligraphy workshops, a mahjong tournament, a Squid Game challenge, market and artist vendors, and a kids zone with a petting zoo. The market stalls alone are worth a lap — expect anime prints, handmade jewelry, and Asian pop-culture merch alongside the food.

One crowd favorite: the dachshund race on Saturday, September 26, from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., with a cash prize and trophy for the winning pup. If you are bringing the family, the kids zone and petting zoo run all day Saturday and Sunday, and the calligraphy workshops give younger visitors a hands-on connection to the Mid-Autumn traditions behind the festival. For groups looking to make a full day of the Baltimore waterfront before or after the festival, the party bus option lets you combine a South Baltimore outing with stops at the Inner Harbor or Fells Point without worrying about multiple cars and parking at each stop.

Frequently Asked Questions