Harvest Festival is a traditional event celebrating the crops and food grown on the land. It is the time of year that the crops are harvested and is traditionally celebrated on the Sunday nearest to the harvest moon. The harvest moon is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox, which is often towards the end of September. In the past the festival would be held as soon as the harvest had been completed. When the final cartload returns proudly to the farm. At this point a Harvest Supper, also known as the ‘Harvest Home’, would take place.

This year (2026), our City Harvest Festival will run from the 12th – 16th of October, culminating on World Food Day (16th October). By organising a food drive you can help to make a real difference in the fight against hunger in London. Harvest festivities run throughout the month of October in the UK this year.

Harvest Festival is a significant time of year for City Harvest. As London’s first food redistribution charity we aim to address food waste and food poverty in the capital. City Harvest puts surplus food to good use in a sustainable way delivering over 1 million meals a month to over 300+ charities including; children’s programmes, food banks, homelessness projects, refuges for women fleeing domestic violence and families fleeing war-torn countries, and local groups across London welcoming the elderly and isolated. Local schools, churches, individuals and community groups make a particular effort to support us at this time.

People traditionally collect food or donate money to us at this time to help us continue our mission, providing food to some of London’s most vulnerable people.

Yes! City Harvest collects food donations from schools and churches but not from individuals’ homes. We are only able to collect substantial amounts of certain foods, due to the cost of fuel and collection, so please contact us in advance about your collection and to arrange pick up.

See here for a full list of what to donate. We can collect all kinds of Ambient Food (food that has long life such as tins, pasta, rice, cereal etc). Any food donations must be in date, unopened and in their original packaging.

You can donate to City Harvest here. Alternatively you can send us a cheque made payable to City Harvest. Financial support helps us to continue providing food throughout the year, enabling us to plan and provide a consistent level of service to the people that need us the most.

We have volunteering opportunities for individuals and community groups at our warehouses in Acton and New Covent Garden Market. You can read more about them by clicking the link.

Our Harvest Festival lasts one week, and runs from 12 – 16 October, culminating on World Food Day on 16 October.

Historically, the festivities could last many days but would traditionally be concluded by St Michael’s Mass on the 29th September, the signifier for the end of harvest. The festivities would include extravagant meals, singing, dancing, drinking games, and much ale.

The festival derives from ancient times but has been adopted by many religious groups with a focus on food, gratitude, and charity – which is why schools across the UK hold events to help people in need.

Whilst not originally Christian, Harvest Festival is celebrated by many religious groups including Christians. Food collection festivals have been celebrated since ancient times. Whilst they are not part of the traditional church year, many churches now celebrate harvest in the autumn.

Historically for some the Harvest used to be celebrated on 1st August and was called Lammas, meaning ‘loaf Mass’. Farmers made loaves of bread and gave them to their local churches where they were used as the communion bread during a special thanksgiving service. In the Jewish religion, the Harvest Festival is called Sukkot or ‘Feast of Ingathering’ or ‘the ‘Feast of Tabernacles’. It is celebrated at the end of the year, after Rosh Hoshanah and is the third of the great Annual Festivals. You can find out more about City Harvest and our work here.