Mid-Autumn Festival of the Hindu lunar month of Ashvin (September–October), marking the end of the monsoon season. In Sri Lanka, a full moon day is known as "Poya" and each full moon day is a public holiday. Shops and businesses are closed on these days as people prepare for the full moon. Exteriors of buildings are adorned with lanterns and people often make food and go to the temple to listen to sermons. The "Binara Full Moon Poya Day" and "Vap Full Moon Poya Day" occur around the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival and like other Buddhist Asian countries, the festivals celebrate
Autumn harvest festivals, often the most important on their calendars. Still extant echoes of these celebrations are found in the autumn Thanksgiving holiday of the United States and Canada, and the Jewish Sukkot holiday with its roots as a full-moon harvest festival of "tabernacles" (living in outdoor huts around the time of harvest). There are also the many North American Indian festivals tied to harvest of ripe foods gathered in the wild, the Chinese Mid-Autumn or Moon festival, and many others. The predominant mood of these autumnal celebrations is a gladness for the fruits of the earth mixed with a certain