The first day of fall, or the autumnal equinox, is September 23 in the Northern Hemisphere. On this day, the sun hovers above the equator, and most of the world enjoys nearly equal amounts of light and darkness.
In traditional agricultural societies, the harvest season was drawing to a close, and people were working overtime to prepare stores for the winter months. The equinox was a time to relax, celebrate, and enjoy the bounty of the harvest, while people anticipated more scarcity or monotony in their winter diet. In modern times, autumn is a time for new beginnings – a new school year, new clothes, new friends, or a new outlook.
Cultures around the world celebrate the first day of fall.
Asian Moon Festivals
Asians have been celebrating the equinox with Moon Festivals, or Mid-Autumn Festivals, for 3000 years. In China, families and friends gather to admire the mid-autumn harvest moon, light lanterns, burn incense, and plant trees. They prepare mooncakes – noodle-like dough filled with bean or lotus seed paste and duck egg yolks or other fillings, which are steamed, baked, or fried.
Japanese Autumnal Equinox Day
In Japan, the fall equinox is a national holiday. The seven days starting three days before the equinox until three days after is called Higan. During Higan, families hold reunions and visit graves, offering flowers, cleaning tombstones, burning incense, and praying. Ohagi, sticky rice covered with adzuki-bean paste or soybean flour, is a popular offering to the deceased.
Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is a two-day holiday that falls on the first and second day of the month of Tishri on the Jewish calendar – usually between September 5 and October 5 on our calendar. Rosh Hashanah is the “day of judgment” in the Torah. Observers abstain from work and spend the day in the synagogue. A shofar (ram’s horn) is blown many times to awaken listeners to the coming judgment. People reflect on mistakes made in the last year and plan changes for the new year. Many observers also practice Tashlikh, or “casting off” on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah. They fill their pockets with pieces of bread, walk to a natural body of water, and empty the bread into the water, symbolically casting off the previous year’s sins. Apples or bread dipped in honey is common Rosh Hashanah fare.
Native American Harvest Ceremonies
Many tribes once celebrated the end of the harvest with equinox ceremonies. The Cherokee gave thanks to all living things at a Nuwati Egwa festival and the Chumash of southern California held a sun ceremony at the end of September. The Miwok of Northern California still celebrate the acorn harvest with a Big Time Festival on the last weekend of September. Traditionally, the Miwok relied on the acorn for food. In the fall, they harvested the fruits, cracked them, ground the meat into meal, rinsed the meal to remove its bitter tannins, and made acorn mush, bread, or soap. At modern Big Time festivals, Miwok and other California tribes perform traditional dances, play hand games, and tell stories.
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Create some autumn traditions
Seasonal celebrations can be fun and simple. Why not pick some activities you enjoy to celebrate the first day of fall? Here are a few ideas:
- Make a seasonal display
Include leaves, ornamental corn, gourds, jack-o-lanterns, acorns, pine cones, or whatever symbolizes fall in your family.
- Read books about fall
Gather books about the season at the library. Fall picture-books include: Leaves by David Ezra Stein; Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall; Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson; Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White; Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert; Fall is Not Easy by Marty Kelly; and It’s Fall! by Linda Glaser. The Autumn Equinox by Ellen Jackson is a fun book to read aloud this time of year. Adults can celebrate fall’s cooler weather by grabbing an anticipated fall release.
- Make Chinese lanterns
Hang them in the house or on the porch. Click here for a how-to.
- Visit a local orchard
Pick apples, and make apple cider, sauce, or pie.
- Prepare a harvest feast
Invite friends over and make foods from your garden or the farmer’s market. Traditional autumn foods include: pears, squash, pumpkin, apples, stews, and mulled ciders. Pumpkin bread is a delicious fall treat, and if you use this real-food recipe, it’s healthy too.
- Tell stories
Bring a pile of blankets out to the porch, yard, or park and share stories about your best or worst back-to-school memories.
- Go on a nature hike
What better way to enjoy the crisp air and colorful leaves?
- Talk about balance
Day and night are equal, so it’s the perfect time to talk, as a family, about the importance of balance and how to create more of it in our lives.
- Star gaze
After the sun sets, grab a pair of binoculars, cuddle under blankets, and look for constellations. Taurus, Cassiopeia, Pegasus, and Ursa Minor reappear in the night sky around the equinox.
No matter how you celebrate, I hope you a have a happy first day of fall.
If you liked this post, you may enjoy these related posts:
- Apples are Fall Superfoods
- Local, Seasonal Foods are Superfoods
- Why You Should Sync Your Schedule with the Seasons
- Finding Wildness
- 6 Fun Things To Do on a Cold Dark Night
(Editor’s note: This is an updated version of a post originally published September 15, 2010)
Are you planning to celebrate the first day of fall this year? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year! I always try to make it back home (Michigan) to spend a week soaking up the perfect weather and pigging out on fresh, hot cider and donuts. I also have a tiny celebration that I do every year on the fall equinox. My dad used to get the oil changed and tires rotated on the fall and spring equinoxes, (just as a way to remember the dates) and right next door was a Dairy Queen. So as a child we’d go and get an ice cream cone and sit inside to wait for the car to finish up, and sometimes he would read to me while we waited. So, every fall equinox I go and get myself a child sized double dipped butterscotch cone and pull out my worn copy of Winnie the Pooh and read the story about the Blustery Day because that was always our favorite.
What a great tradition. Thanks for sharing. I love fall too. A friend of mine is from Michigan, and she introduced me to the custom of eating donuts and drinking cider this time of year. You Michiganders (Or is it Michiganians?) do know how to celebrate the season.
I didn’t realize that was a Michigan thing but every fall, when the temperature and light is a certain way, I get a definite hankering for cider & donuts. Who is this fellow Michigander friend of yours, Abby?
Thanks for the ideas & inspiration, as always. And happy bday! 🙂
Hi Jo! Her name is Charla. My mom is also from Michigan, although she’s never mentioned the cider and donuts tradition. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I’ve heard both, but I think Michiganders is the correct term 🙂
In Russia (where I am from, originally) we celebrate the first day of Fall on September 1st. This has always been the first day of school, and in Russia this is a big deal. All the incoming and outgoing students line up outside the school, the teachers get bouquets of flowers, all of the family of each youngster shows up too, and there is a sort of symbolic passing off of the baton from the graduating students to the youngest, incoming class.
Likewise, the first day of Spring is March 1st, and celebrated accordingly.
What a great tradition! Thanks for sharing it.
Wow I was just scrolling for some traditions and found your website – How delightful and informational – I now have been in CT. For 3 years , in which I grew up , but had moved out west years ago . I am part cree – mic mac and was looking for some celebrations out here in CT , as my 8 year old daughter and I had used to celebrate all life in every way loving to learn about different cultures . My question is ” where have all the natives gone ” ? It seems anyway that here in the northeast its hard to hang on to tradition . We miss the pow wows and equinox and solstice celebrations we were so used to in southern Ca . So after searching locally here , well we did start our own traditions . Yesterday we decorated pumpkins . Tonight we had our own Harvest dinner and thanked our ancestors for all the blessings we have !! We shared some stories around the dinner table , lit candles and invited our dearly depated ones to be with us ! What a fun time ! I think we did well with our eclectic blends of a few different cultures ! All in all your website was a wonderful treat to read as it solidified my belief in CELEBRATING LIFE !!! THANKS SOOO MUCH for more wonderful ideas I can share with my daughter !!