Lanterns of Success: Mooncake Festival Celebration at GreatWork

Last October 14, 2025, the GreatWork community celebrated this year’s Mooncake Festival at GreatWork’s Flagship Center in Mega Tower. The event brought together tenants and members for a short pause from work to appreciate culture, tradition, and togetherness.

A Celebration of Unity, Gratitude, and Good Fortune

The Mooncake Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is one of Asia’s most cherished celebrations, a season that brings people together in the spirit of unity, gratitude, and good fortune. Observed on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, it marks a moment for families to reunite, give thanks for the year’s abundant harvest, and admire the full moon as a symbol of renewal and completeness.

Lanterns are lit to express wishes for the future, while mooncakes are shared as tokens of appreciation and connection, gentle reminders that life’s sweetest moments are meant to be shared.

Here in the Philippines, the Mooncake Festival has evolved into a vibrant festival embraced by both Filipino and Chinese-Filipino communities. Beyond its cultural roots, it has become a celebration of gratitude, harmony, and shared prosperity, where friends and colleagues gather to play the iconic dice game Pua Tiong Chiu for good fortune. Local pastry shops add their own creative flair, offering mooncakes in distinctly Filipino flavors like ube, queso de bola, and mango,  a delicious reflection of how tradition adapts and thrives through time.

Shared Moments over Mooncakes and Lanterns

At GreatWork, the celebration opened with the story of Chang’e, the Moon Goddess, and her husband, Hou Yi. According to legend, Hou Yi was a heroic archer who saved the world by shooting down nine suns and was rewarded with an elixir of immortality. To prevent it from being stolen, Chang’e drank the elixir herself and ascended to the moon, where she now lives, forever watching over the Earth. Heartbroken but devoted, Hou Yi began offering mooncakes and fruits each year to honor her — a gesture that inspired one of the festival’s most enduring traditions.

Lanterns, another symbol of the Mid-Autumn Festival, represent hope, harmony, and the light that guides loved ones home. In the spirit of this tradition, GreatWork’s Lantern Making Competition turned the workspace into a canvas of color and creativity. Teams transformed plain lanterns into imaginative and meaningful pieces, each one reflecting collaboration, artistry, and the joy of shared expression. The room filled with laughter, friendly competition, and a collective sense of pride as ideas came to life in glowing form.

To wrap up the celebration, everyone joined a raffle where every guest took home a prize as a lighthearted nod to the season’s theme of abundance and generosity. The afternoon ended with shared mooncakes, a light feast, and stories that reflected the warmth of the community.

Community Beyond the Workspace

More than just a cultural event, the Mooncake Festival at GreatWork was a reflection of what makes communities thrive. Just like the lanterns that light the night sky, shared traditions illuminate the connections that make work more meaningful.

At GreatWork, success is not only measured by professional milestones, but also by the moments of connection, creativity, and gratitude that bring people together. Through celebrations like Lanterns of Success, GreatWork continues to nurture spaces where individuals grow not just in their careers, but as part of a community that values collaboration, culture, and the joy of shared purpose.