Under the Harvest Moon Mid-Autumn Concert at Studio Bell

National Music Centre partners with Alberta Chinese Artists Association for Under the Harvest Moon, a Mid-Autumn concert on Friday, September 25, 2026 at Studio Bell in downtown Calgary. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. The lunar Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the same Friday in 2026, which makes this the rare calendar night where the concert and the holiday share a date.

The program features two Calgary-based Chinese Canadian ensembles: The GCB Band, which folds Chinese melody into rock, pop, and cinematic arrangements, and Rainbow Chinese Assembly, which leans on silk-and-bamboo and traditional instrumental color. Vocalist Mimi Bao joins with Mandarin classics and contemporary favorites. NMC is staging the night in its intimate Performance Hall, listed at 264 seats, so the night reads as a close acoustic salon rather than a plaza stage with competing food-truck noise.

Who it is for: Chinese Canadian families marking Mid-Autumn with music, diaspora listeners who want Mandarin repertoire in a proper hall, and curious Calgarians who already use Studio Bell for other culture nights. Early bird tickets were listed at $28 plus GST through late August while supplies lasted. General admission sits around $38 plus GST, with youth at $19 plus GST. Confirm current tiers on the Studio Bell listing before you go. Accessibility questions go through info@studiobell.ca.

Studio Bell / National Music Centre sits at 850 4 Street SE in East Village. C-Train access and nearby parking both work; the hall is small enough that late walk-ups are a bad bet once the room sells. Dress for a seated concert. Arrive for doors if you want a calm seat and time to read the bilingual program notes.

Mid-Autumn in Calgary often splits between Chinatown lantern walks earlier in September and smaller Culture Days workshops at the Chinese Cultural Centre. This concert is the ticketed, stage-first version: reunion mood, live ensembles, and a harvest-moon frame without asking you to stand in a plaza wind. CNOOC and the Government of Canada are listed as concert supporters on the event page, which is useful context for how institutional partners still fund Chinese Canadian arts nights in the Prairies.

Our take: if you already did the lantern walk and still want a Mid-Autumn evening that feels like a night out, buy this before the 264 seats disappear. Pair it with dinner in East Village or Chinatown nearby. Skip only if you need a free outdoor format; this one is paid, seated, and worth dressing for.

When: September 25, 2026; doors 6:30 p.m., show 7:30 p.m.
Where: Studio Bell, National Music Centre, 850 4 Street SE, Calgary, AB

Tickets and accessibility notes on the Studio Bell event page.