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Hoi An lantern festival: Full Moon Night dates for 2026–2027, hours and what to expect

Danang.Plus Team Danang.Plus Team
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You have one evening in Hoi An (Hội An) and want to see the Hoi An lantern festival, when the old town is lit mainly by lanterns. It happens on one night each lunar month, so its date on a Western calendar moves every month. Which night is it, and what should you know before you go?

At least one 2026 date list on a travel site is off by one to three days. In December 2026, Hoi An also holds an international lantern festival for the first time.

Aerial view of the Hoai River in Hoi An at dusk, with lit boats on the water
The Hoai River through Hoi An at dusk. Photo: Danang Fantasticity (lightly edited).

When is the Hoi An lantern festival?

Check the lunar date before you book a night in Hoi An, because the event follows Vietnam's lunar calendar. The Hoi An lantern festival, known as Hoi An Legendary Night (Đêm phố cổ Hội An), is held on the 14th night of every lunar month, and the last three of 2026 fall on October 23, November 22 and December 22.

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Hoi An's heritage conservation center lists the program from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm. The city's tourism portal calls the event "Hoi An Full Moon Night," but the date is set by the 14th day of the lunar month, so go by the table below rather than a moon-phase app. The table lists the 14th day of each lunar month from October 2026 to December 2027, worked out from Vietnam's lunar calendar.

DateDayLunar date
October 23, 2026Friday14th day, 9th month
November 22, 2026Sunday14th day, 10th month
December 22, 2026Tuesday14th day, 11th month
January 21, 2027Thursday14th day, 12th month
February 19, 2027Friday14th day, 1st month
March 21, 2027Sunday14th day, 2nd month
April 20, 2027Tuesday14th day, 3rd month
May 19, 2027Wednesday14th day, 4th month
June 18, 2027Friday14th day, 5th month
July 17, 2027Saturday14th day, 6th month
August 15, 2027Sunday14th day, 7th month
September 14, 2027Tuesday14th day, 8th month
October 13, 2027Wednesday14th day, 9th month
November 11, 2027Thursday14th day, 10th month
December 11, 2027Saturday14th day, 11th month

The calculation behind the table, made for Vietnam's time zone, also gives March 2 and September 24, 2026, two nights confirmed by the press and the organizers. At least one 2026 list on a travel site runs one to three days early, so check any date against this table.

Hoi An International Lantern Festival, December 3–6, 2026

If you can be in Hoi An in early December, plan around a four-day international lantern festival. The first Hoi An International Lantern Festival runs December 3–6, 2026, at Hoai River Square, the An Hoi Sculpture Garden, along the Hoai River and on several streets in the Ancient Town.

Its theme is "Hoi An – Colors of Heritage," and it marks 27 years since UNESCO listed Hoi An Ancient Town as a World Heritage Site on December 4, 1999. The Da Nang City People's Committee issued the festival plan. Organizers expect about 15 large lantern installations, and lanterns representing Japan, China, South Korea, Thailand and Laos are also expected.

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  • The opening is scheduled for 7:00 pm on December 3 at Hoai River Square.
  • About 20 experience booths are planned from 4:00 pm to 9:30 pm each day at Hoai River Square and the An Hoi Sculpture Garden.
  • A lantern procession recreating the early 20th-century town is set for the evening of December 4.
  • The festival closes on the evening of December 6 with a performance on the river.

Some of the lantern artworks are expected to stay on display through the Nguyên Tiêu holiday, whose main day, the 15th of the first lunar month, falls on February 20, 2027. As of October 2, 2026, the published plans for the festival did not mention tickets or free entry, so check for an update in the week before you go.

What happens on Legendary Night

Arrive before dark if you want to watch the old town change. During the program, electric lights are dimmed, candles and lanterns light the streets, and the streets are kept for people on foot, with motor vehicles restricted.

On September 24, 2026, during the Mid-Autumn program, the night included poetry recitals, tuồng (classical opera), folk songs, traditional martial arts, Chinese chess, village chess, bài chòi and calligraphy. Bài chòi, a folk game, is also part of the heritage center's general description of Legendary Night. The event was first held as a trial on September 8, 1998.

A wooden boat on the Hoai River at dusk, with two rowers setting small lanterns on the water
Setting flower lanterns on the Hoai River in Hoi An. Photo: Danang Fantasticity (lightly edited).
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You can float a paper flower lantern yourself. Vendors along the riverbank sell them, so ask the price before you pay, then light the candle inside and set the lantern on the water.

Settle the price of a boat before you board, too. When city inspectors checked the Hoai River on May 13, 2026, a boat trip of about 30 minutes cost about 50,000 VND (about US$2) per person on average. They also reported operators who did not post prices, frequent touts, and higher prices for trips booked through hotels.

Walking the streets of the old town costs nothing, but since August 10, 2026, each heritage site you go into charges 20,000 VND (about US$0.78). The walking-street hours, when the streets are for people on foot, run until at least 9:00 pm, or 9:30 pm in summer.

Mid-Autumn and Tet in Hoi An

Three lunar holidays change the usual routine, so check them if your dates are close. Mid-Autumn in Hoi An has been on Vietnam's list of national intangible cultural heritage since 2023, and the Thiên cẩu (unicorn-dog) dance is one of its distinctive features. Hoi An's 2026 Mid-Autumn program ran September 22–25. In 2027, Mid-Autumn falls on September 15, with Legendary Night on the evening before.

Flower lanterns floating on the river in front of the Japanese Covered Bridge at dusk
Flower lanterns by the Japanese Covered Bridge. Photo: Danang Fantasticity (lightly edited).
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Tet, the Lunar New Year, falls on February 6, 2027. Hoi An had not published its plan for Tet 2027 as of October 2, 2026. In 2026, ticket sales and guided tours paused from the 29th day of the last lunar month to the 3rd day of Tet (February 16–19), and the walking-street hours were suspended from February 14 to 19.

In 2026, Hoi An's Nguyên Tiêu festival ran March 2–4, the 14th to 16th days of the first lunar month. It included Legendary Night and flower lanterns on the river, and no tickets were sold while it ran.

Check what else falls on your dates

Enter your travel dates to see every Legendary Night in them, together with Tet, public holidays, other lunar-calendar festivals and events with announced dates. The checker covers October 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027 and also shows the average weather for your months.

Check your Da Nang travel dates

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Covers Oct 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2027 · Checked Oct 2, 2026 · Sources: Climate tables, QCVN 02:2022/BXD, Da Nang city: climate, Labour Code 2019, Article 112, Resolution 28/2026/QH16, Tet 2027 proposal (Government news), Danang 2026 official events calendar, Marathon 2027 (Da Nang newspaper), Quan The Am Festival (city portal), Vietnamese lunar calendar method (Ho Ngoc Duc, Internet Archive copy)

Floods and getting there

Plan around floods if your trip falls in October or November. Hoi An's rainy season runs from September to January, and the Ancient Town can flood in October and November, the months of the October 23 and November 22, 2026, nights.

Safety note: At 7:00 am on October 30, 2025, the Thu Bon River at Hoi An stood at 3.32 m, above the 1964 peak. By November 17, 2025, the town had flooded four times in just over half a month. Check flood warnings before you travel.

Hoi An is about 30 km (19 miles) from central Da Nang and has been part of Da Nang city since July 1, 2025. See how to get from Da Nang to Hoi An for the bus, Grab and taxi, Hoi An Ancient Town for the heritage sites and the night market, and the best time to visit Da Nang for rain by month.

Sources and how we checked

We used the notices of the Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Conservation Center, the Danang Fantasticity website (the city's tourism portal), the city government and dated Vietnamese news reports, checked on October 1–2, 2026. We worked out the 2026–2027 dates with Vietnam's lunar calendar (Ho Ngoc Duc's method, UTC+7) and checked them against nights confirmed in 2026. Where sources disagreed, such as on whether the electric lights are switched off or dimmed, we used the most recent official notice. US dollar amounts use Vietcombank's transfer rate of 25,800 VND per US$ on October 1, 2026, rounded to the nearest cent below US$1, US$0.5 up to US$100, US$1 up to US$10,000 and US$1,000 above that.

Updated: October 2, 2026

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