Saigon Night Market’s Mid-Autumn Festival heads to Pinellas Park next month

Most folks know about the Lunar New Year celebration that happens each winter, but millions of people throughout East and Southeast Asia celebrate another holiday in the fall to honor the harvest season and the autumn equinox.

Clearwater’s Saigon Night Market—a weekly event packed with dozens of street food-inspired vendors and karaoke—hosts a local rendition of the widely-celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival next month in Pinellas Park.

England Brothers Park at 5010 81st Ave. N hosts this weekend-long festival on Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 16-17. Saturday’s festivities will run from 3 p.m.-9 p.m. while Sunday’s party happens from 2 p.m.-9 p.m. Both days will feature DJs and cultural performances—including the iconic lion dance—in the park’s bandshell, dozens of vendors specializing in Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, Filipino and Chinese fare, a pho eating contest and bounce houses and face painters for the kiddos.

Festival organizers are only accepting 10 contestants for its pho eating contest; folks that would like to participate must follow Saigon Summer Market on social media, tag a friend and share its post in order to register and possibly win $200.

And unlike its weekly market in Clearwater, this special celebration will have beer for purchase.

Entrance fees cost $10 per day or $15 for two days, and kids under the age of eight can attend for free. Tickets can be purchased at the festival’s entrance.

“In Vietnamese households, the Mid-Autumn Festivals are typically for the kids. Adults would give us toys or a lantern to walk around the village, watch the moon and play with other kids,” Saigon Night Market founder Lew Nguyen says about his personal relationship with the holiday. “There are dragon dances and other entertainment at the church in my hometown, too, and we will also give the kids at our festival little lanterns to continue these traditions.”

Besides sparking up lanterns and admiring the moon, another tradition affiliated with this holiday is snacking on the tasty and intricately-designed Chinese mooncake— a treat that will definitely be for sale at Pinellas Park’s festival.

In addition to next month’s massive Mid-Autumn Festival, Nguyen says an even bigger Lunar New Year party is slated for February 2024.

And if you'd like to get a sneak peek of its Mid-Autumn Festival, the Saigon Night Market happens at 14100 US Hwy. 19 N in Clearwater every Saturday from 6 p.m.-11 p.m. and Sunday from 5 p.m.-10 p.m.  For more information on Pinellas Park’s Mid-Autumn Festival, head to Saigon Night Market’s Facebook page or Instagram at @saigonnightmarket, where information about its weekly events and vendors are regularly posted.

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