When and where to see the Strawberry Moon 2027
The exact moment of full moon is Friday, June 18, 2027 at 8:45 PM in New York. The best night to watch is Friday, June 18, when the Moon comes up at 8:41 PM, low in the southeast, about 12 minutes after sunset. It climbs to about 22° above the horizon around 12:59 AM and sets around sunrise the next morning.
A full moon looks full for about three nights. From New York the Moon is 99% lit when it rises the evening before and 99% the evening after, and on those nights it rises 53 minutes and 45 minutes later each evening.
The Moon is at a declination of -27.4° 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 Sagittarius.
| City | Exact full moon (local time) |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Friday, June 18, 2027, 5:45 PM |
| New York | Friday, June 18, 2027, 8:45 PM |
| London | Saturday, June 19, 2027, 1:45 AM |
| Berlin | Saturday, June 19, 2027, 2:45 AM |
| New Delhi | Saturday, June 19, 2027, 6:15 AM |
| Tokyo | Saturday, June 19, 2027, 9:45 AM |
| Sydney | Saturday, June 19, 2027, 10:45 AM |
Why is it called the Strawberry Moon?
The Strawberry Moon is the June full moon. The Old Farmer's Almanac says the name was used by Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota peoples for the short season when wild strawberries ripen in the northeast. The Moon itself is not red, though a June full moon low in the sky can look warm and golden.
European names for the same full moon include the Honey Moon, Mead Moon and Rose Moon. The link sometimes claimed between the Honey Moon and the word "honeymoon" is a popular story, not established etymology.
Other names for the June 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:
- Berries Ripen Moon: Haida
- Green Corn Moon: Cherokee
- Hatching Moon: Cree
- Hoer Moon: Western Abenaki
- Birth Moon: Tlingit
- Honey Moon or Mead Moon: European usage
June in nature and the sky
June brings the summer solstice and the longest days of the year in the north. Strawberries, elderflowers and wild roses are in season, birds are busy feeding their young, and fireflies light up meadows in the eastern United States.
Because it sits opposite the high summer Sun, the June full moon is the lowest full moon of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It skims along the southern horizon in Sagittarius or Ophiuchus, often amber in colour because its light passes through so much air.
Festivals on the Strawberry 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.
Jyeshtha Purnima and Vat Purnima
June 18, 2027
Married Hindu women, especially in Maharashtra and Gujarat, fast and tie threads around a banyan tree on Vat Purnima, the full moon of Jyeshtha.
Poson Poya
June 18, 2027
Sri Lanka's June full moon celebrates the arrival of Buddhism on the island in the 3rd century BC, with pilgrimages to Mihintale.
The summer solstice follows on June 21, so this is the lowest full moon of 2027 for the Northern Hemisphere.
Supermoon, micromoon or neither?
The Strawberry Moon 2027 is 401,943 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 4.4% narrower than a full moon at the average distance. Of the 12 full moons of 2027, it is the 10th closest. The biggest is the Wolf Moon at 357,635 km and the smallest the Buck Moon at 405,968 km.
The Strawberry Moon from the Southern Hemisphere
In the Southern Hemisphere June is midwinter, and the June full moon is the highest of the year there, riding almost overhead from Australia, South Africa and South America on long, cold nights. The full moon happens at the same instant worldwide; in Sydney it is Saturday, June 19, 2027 at 10:45 AM, and the Moon climbs to about 83° there that night, compared with 22° 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 Strawberry Moon
More: All full moon names · Moon calendar 2027 · Next full moon · Moon phase today