When and where to see the Flower Moon 2027
The exact moment of full moon is Thursday, May 20, 2027 at 6:59 AM in New York. The best night to watch is Wednesday, May 19, when the Moon comes up at 7:52 PM, low in the east-southeast, about 17 minutes before sunset. It climbs to about 24° above the horizon around 12:24 AM and sets around sunrise the next morning.
A full moon looks full for about three nights. From New York the Moon is 97% lit when it rises the evening before and 99% the evening after, and on those nights it rises 68 minutes and 64 minutes later each evening. Those long gaps come from the steep angle of the Moon's path to the evening horizon at this time of year.
The Moon is at a declination of -24.3° this time, well south of the celestial equator, so for the Northern Hemisphere it stays low and is up for a shorter time, while the Southern Hemisphere sees it high. It sits in front of the stars of Libra, close to Antares (11.2° away).
| City | Exact full moon (local time) |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Thursday, May 20, 2027, 3:59 AM |
| New York | Thursday, May 20, 2027, 6:59 AM |
| London | Thursday, May 20, 2027, 11:59 AM |
| Berlin | Thursday, May 20, 2027, 12:59 PM |
| New Delhi | Thursday, May 20, 2027, 4:29 PM |
| Tokyo | Thursday, May 20, 2027, 7:59 PM |
| Sydney | Thursday, May 20, 2027, 8:59 PM |
Why is it called the Flower Moon?
The Flower Moon is the May full moon, a name the Old Farmer's Almanac describes as used by several Native American peoples and by early settlers for the month when flowers are everywhere. It is one of the most widely shared full moon names.
Like many names on the list, it describes the season in the eastern woodlands and the Great Lakes, where the almanac's sources lived, rather than any feature of the Moon itself.
Other names for the May full moon
The almanac names are one tradition among many. Native American peoples used hundreds of moon names that followed their own local seasons, and the attributions below are those given by the Old Farmer's Almanac:
- Budding Moon: Cree
- Egg Laying Moon: Cree
- Frog Moon: Cree
- Planting Moon: Dakota and Lakota
- Leaf Budding Moon: Anishinaabe
May in nature and the sky
May is the peak of spring. Orchards blossom, meadows bloom, the dawn chorus of birds is at its loudest, and in the Northern Hemisphere the nights are getting short. Fireflies begin to appear in the southern United States, and in Britain the hawthorn (the "may" tree) flowers.
May full moons are low and pass through Libra and Scorpius, near the red star Antares, the same region of sky the Sun crosses in late November.
Festivals on the Flower Moon 2027
Many of the world's calendars are lunar, so festivals around the globe fall on this same full moon. Dates below were checked against published calendars; where India and the US keep different dates, both are given.
Vesak (Buddha Purnima)
May 20, 2027 (India and Thailand); May 19 to 20 (Sri Lanka)
The most important Buddhist festival, marking the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. India keeps Buddha Purnima and Thailand Visakha Bucha on May 20; Sri Lanka's Vesak Poya is May 19, with May 20 also a holiday. Homes and temples are hung with lanterns.
This full moon is also a seasonal Blue Moon: spring 2027 (from the March 20 equinox to the June 21 solstice) has four full moons, on March 22, April 20, May 20 and June 19, and the third of four is the Blue Moon by the older almanac rule.
Supermoon, micromoon or neither?
The Flower Moon 2027 is 393,893 km from Earth, centre to centre. That is neither a supermoon (closer than 362,500 km) nor a micromoon (farther than 405,000 km); it appears 2.4% narrower than a full moon at the average distance. Of the 12 full moons of 2027, it is the 8th closest. The biggest is the Wolf Moon at 357,635 km and the smallest the Buck Moon at 405,968 km.
The Flower Moon from the Southern Hemisphere
South of the equator May is late autumn, with frosts beginning in inland areas, and the full moon climbs high across the northern sky. The full moon happens at the same instant worldwide; in Sydney it is Thursday, May 20, 2027 at 8:59 PM, and the Moon climbs to about 81° there that night, compared with 24° from New York. South of the equator the Moon also looks upside down to northern eyes, with the dark "Man in the Moon" features flipped.
Before and after the Flower Moon
More: All full moon names · Moon calendar 2027 · Next full moon · Moon phase today