MIS Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration

From a Festival, a Community Begins to Take Shape

25 September 2026 · Masters International School Chiangmai

On the afternoon of 25 September 2026, MIS held its first major campus-wide event of the new school year: a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration. Around sixty to seventy students, teachers, parents, invited families, and visitors gathered on campus. For a school that had only begun its new school year in August, the afternoon marked more than a festival — it was one of the first occasions for the wider MIS community to come together.

It Began with a Song

At around 1:00 p.m., guests checked in by QR code, received their activity cards, and made their way to the multipurpose hall. Students, parents, teachers, invited families, and visitors exploring MIS gathered together as conversations filled the room before the programme began.

Then a worship song began to rise from the back of the hall — The Greatest Blessing in This Life. A few voices joined in, then more. The room, which had been lively only moments before, gradually found its rhythm as everyone turned their attention toward the song. Together, the school community began the afternoon in worship.

The programme then opened with a simple question from a teacher: “When is the Mid-Autumn Festival?” From there, students explored the date of the festival, the difference between the lunar and solar calendars, and some of the traditions and meanings connected with Mid-Autumn Festival in Chinese culture.

English is the main language of learning at MIS, while Chinese remains part of students’ language and cultural experience. With many students coming from Chinese families, Mid-Autumn Festival offered a natural opportunity for children to stay connected with the culture of their families while learning in an international environment.

A Stage for Every Child

The opening programme was prepared and presented by the students. There was a short skit about mooncakes, a dance to Listen to Me Say Thank You, singing, and poetry recitations.

The children came to the stage with different levels of confidence. Some were relaxed and expressive; others spoke softly or showed their nervousness. Each of them, however, was given the opportunity to take part.

One young student became shy on stage, spoke very quietly, and forgot part of the lines. The teacher did not rush the child, but stayed nearby and offered encouragement. After a pause, the student began again and completed the performance. When it ended, the audience responded with warm applause.

For children, the value of a school performance is not only in delivering every line perfectly. Sometimes, choosing to stand up, beginning again after losing one’s place, and reaching the end is already a meaningful step. Being surrounded by adults and peers who are willing to wait, encourage, and applaud makes that step possible.

Experiencing Mid-Autumn Festival by Doing

After the stage programme, students, parents, and guests used their activity cards to move between different areas of the campus and take part in the afternoon’s festival activities.

One classroom became a snow-skin mooncake workshop. Children and parents worked together, preparing the ingredients, shaping the dough, and pressing their mooncakes into moulds. A familiar festival food became something they could make with their own hands and share with others.

Elsewhere, families joined in ring toss, dart throwing, and lantern-riddle games. In the craft room, children made their own lanterns. Some worked quietly and carefully, some returned to the games again and again, and others carried their freshly made mooncakes across the campus to show their friends. For an afternoon, different corners of the school became small spaces for making, playing, and meeting one another.

A Taste Shared by Families and Volunteers

Parents and volunteers also prepared a special Chinese food — suyou tuotuo (酥油坨坨) — for guests to taste. Participants could collect a serving using the ticket provided with their activity card.

It is not a food usually associated with Mid-Autumn Festival, but its presence brought another layer of lived culture into the day. Culture is not found only in textbooks or on a stage. It also lives in family memories, regional foods, and the simple act of sharing something familiar with someone else.

From Festival Back to Everyday School Life

There was no highly formal closing ceremony. As the organized activities came to an end, the afternoon gradually moved into free time. Some children continued talking with friends, others stayed around the activity areas, while a group headed to the court and played basketball with the principal.

A campus that had been filled with festival activities slowly returned to the rhythm of ordinary school life. Special occasions matter, but many of the strongest connections in a school are built in these simple, everyday moments together.

MIS’s First Major Campus Event

MIS began its new school year in August 2026. This Mid-Autumn Festival celebration was the school’s first major campus-wide event of the year, bringing together around sixty to seventy students, teachers, parents, invited families, and visitors.

MIS is still a small and growing school, so a gathering of this size was enough to fill the campus with energy. Yet the significance of the afternoon was not simply the number of people who attended. It was the opportunity for people to begin knowing one another beyond the classroom.

Students were more than classmates. Teachers were more than the adults they met during lessons. Parents, children, staff, and families visiting MIS shared the experience of making mooncakes, watching performances, solving lantern riddles, talking together, and playing basketball. Through these ordinary interactions, the connections that shape a school community began to take form.

A school culture is not created automatically on the first day of school. It grows through lessons, activities, conversations, shared meals, small acts of encouragement, and the many ordinary experiences that people build together over time.

“For MIS, this was our first major campus event — and only the beginning.”

Beginning with this Mid-Autumn Festival, we look forward to creating many more shared memories with our students, families, and teachers as the MIS community continues to grow.