Top 5 Things To Know About Hoi An Lantern Festival 2025 – 2026

The Hoi An Lantern Festival is a popular event in Vietnam and it is often one of the many things that brings tourists to the area.  This traditional festival is held one night every month and it is always on the 14^th day on the lunar calendar for that month.  You may also hear the Hoi An Lantern Festival called by another name or two, and they are the Legendary Night and the Full Moon Party.

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2025 Hoi An Lantern Festival dates

7. Hoi An lantern festival schedule 2026

3. Where is the venue for Hoi An Lantern Festival in 2025?

Hoi An Old Town is a venue for lantern festival 2024. If you stay nearby the ancient town, you can walk around 5-10 minutes. Or if you stay in an outskirt area, it might takes over 20 minutes to reach the venue. Kindly pay attention to book your accommocation location in advance when you plan your trip. Many activities are centered at the Hoi An Bridge and along the banks of the Hoai River.

4. What time does it start and finish?

The lantern festival commences quite late, it will happen between 8:00pm to 9:00pm. At these hours, all electricity lights will turn off. The festival only allows soft lights and candles. It creates a magcial town at night for tourists. You will capture many impressive photos around the town with colorful lantern decorations.

Usually, tourists tend to have dinner and relax at the ancient town when the sunset begins. Then, they will wait until the festival time. Many travel activities at the town will not make you feel bored. If you book our Hoi an tours, local guide will take you visit some hidden attractions before the festival hours. 

5. What to expect at Hoi An Lantern Festival 2025?

Hoi An Lantern Festival 2025 is a special occasion for tourists make wishes to beloved ones by release the paper lanterns on Thu Bon river. This activity will bring luck, health, prosperity, and happiness to people. There are many boats which are line up in the riverbank, you can choose one for sightseeing at night. The fee is estimated from 100,000 VND – 200,000 VND/ boat. Depending on your travel duration, you can negotiate the cost with locals. An hour boat trip for sightseeing is memorable.

In addition, you also can walk around the old town and admire lantern decorations. Simply you can enjoy sweet drinks or local snacks while wandering around. Taking fantasic photos of the charming town is a highlight tip from our company. You can save special moments of your vacation. Moreover, some locals will perform their musical arts along the river, you will soak to the culture interestingly. The performances held also often contain poetry readings, showcasing the artistic side of local culture.

Especially, the vehicles are prohibited for some hours because of Lantern Festival. The streets will have large space for pedestrians. Along the river, there will be lanterns lit and musical performances by locals. People will gather in outside to play games or simply enjoy special moment of full moon together. Furthermore, various street foods are being sell in the riverbank, you can taste some Hoi An culinary.

Some local dishes available are Cao Lau (a famous Hoi An dish with rice noodles, pork, and fresh vegetables), Banh Bao (steamed dumplings filled with pork, mushrooms, and other goodies), Banh Xoai (mango cake) and also Xi Ma (a unique black sesame pudding). All street foods are worth a try and for the cheap price, it would be a worth experience to try at least one dish. 

6. Travel Tips

Traveling to Hoi An will not make you feel disapointed because this is a top tourist destination in Vietnam. The Lantern Festival only happens at night so you might consider to join some day trips. Following informations are our travel guide tips which you can take note:

• – If you have a short vacation in Hoi An, you can visit some must-do attractions such as taking a basket boat trip around Cam Thanh Coconut village, soaking to the history of ancient town, droping lanterns on Hoai River.
• – If you spend a long period in Hoi An, you can visit our Hoi an tours from Explore Vietnam Travel company to search and read unique travel programs. Moreover, you also can visit Danang and Hue city during your stay. The best way is contacting our sale team to coordinate your itinerary.
• – Although all times of year to enjoy the Hoi An Lantern Festival are great, the biggest celebration will be in February which is the first full moon of the lunar new year. The atmosphere will be fresh and full of energy to start a new beginning.
• – The best moment to capture beautiful photographs is lantern festival hours. Do not forget to bring your camera during your vacation in Hoi An.
• – Hand-made lanterns are being sell at the old town, the price is ranging from 15,000 VND to 20,000 VND per lantern. It is roughly around 0,5 – 1 USD.
• – If you like to have lantern class experiences, you can book through our company for a lesson by locals. We can organise to make beautiful and attractive lanterns during 2 hours class.
• – If you stay in a far distance from the old town, we recommend you book private car to take you anywhere. Our driver speaks English so you can communicate with him easily on the routes. Simply, you will enjoy the festival freely because our driver will wait you patiently in outsid
• – If your travel time is not matching with the lantern festival, you still can enjoy the ancient town with various activities. You also will see all colorful lanterns and participate sightseeing activities.

A special event as Lantern Festival 2024 is unmissable in your travel plans. We hope the article is helpful for you to save some travel experiences and tips. A magical time of festival is a unforgetable. If you are planning to Hoi An, our travel consultants will coordinate your itinerary when you contact us. Let’s explore the charming and poetic Hoi An town with our team.

While the Hoi An Lantern Festival is popular amongst the locals, the tourists also love the festivities every time it is held.  The entire festival is held in Hoi An Old Town, which means you will be safe from motorized vehicles until ten o’clock at night.  Bikes are not even allowed on the streets of Old Town until the festival is over for the evening.

Most of the festivities are held at the Japanese Covered Bridge, Hoai River, and the Cau An Hoi Bridge.  The main part of this festival is obviously the lanterns, but when you attend, you can also play many different games and listen to live music.

A couple of the games include chess and Bai Choi, which is bingo.  You can also listen to the recitation of poems, folk songs of Quang Nam, and family music.  Other fascinating things to do include learning how to do calligraphy, watching traditional martial arts, seeing a performance at a traditional Vietnamese Theater, and breaking terra cotta pots.

(Hoi An Lantern Festival)

The burning of paper and counterfeit notes are the ways where the locals honor their ancestors and you will find a fire to burn those things in front of every single shop.  There will also be a table in front of these shops, and they will be full of different fruits like mangos and bananas.

You will have an opportunity to purchase your own lantern to set off during the festivities.  You can place your own papers in your lanterns with the candle before you set it off down the river.  Once the lanterns are all lit, the streets become magical, because the main lights go out and the only shining light is that from all the glowing lanterns.

(Hoi An Lantern Festival)

If you want to see the lanterns in a truly spectacular way, you may want to consider taking a sampan ride.  If you are not aware, a sampan is a traditional canoe in Vietnam, and a guide will paddle you out into the water.  You can set your lantern off from there, so it does not get lost in the sea of other lanterns.  As soon as your lantern is in the water, you can easily take pictures of the thousands of other lanterns in the water and lining the streets.

(Hoi An Lantern Festival)

You will probably get hungry when you are attending the Hoi An Lantern Festival, but don’t worry, there will be plenty of street foods for you to purchase.  The most popular dish during the festival is Cao Lau, but you can also order Banh Bao, Banh Vac, and Banh Dap.

Before you leave the Hoi An Lantern Festival, make sure you take a little time to explore the nearby temples.  They all offer an all-inclusive admission price of 120,000 VND, so you can see all the temples and museums you want for this one low price.  Many of the locals will be seen in groups at the Quan Cong Pagodas, where they will all be wishing for happiness and luck in the coming days.

The best time to attend the Hoi An Lantern Festival is during the month of February, because it is the first full moon of the lunar New Year.  This means that that festival is the biggest and best out of all the festivals held throughout the year.  Of course, you can visit Vietnam at any time to attend the festival, but many past visitors have said they have had the best time up through the month of August.  After that, the rain usually begins to fall, and it is quite wet, cold, and windy for the festivals in the latter half of the year.

It is easy to reach the Hoi An Lantern Festival from where you are staying during your vacation in Vietnam, especially if you are in Hoi An.  Most of the time, you can walk from your hotel room, but if you are further away, you can also take a taxi or bus down to Hoi An Old Town.  It is important to note that if you do ride a bike down to the Hoi An Lantern Festival, you must park it outside of the festival area.  This is for the safety of everyone attending the event.

The Hoi An Lantern Festival is a must-see event for everyone visiting Vietnam.  If it is possible, you must plan your trip, so that you are in this part of Vietnam when this festival is taking place during any of the months throughout the year.

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