Hoi An Lantern Festival 2026: All 13 Dates Plus the New International Festival

Local guide · August 2026

Once a lunar month, Hoi An switches off its electric lights and the Ancient Town glows by candle and silk instead. That much most guides tell you. What almost none of them have caught up with: Da Nang City has approved plans for the first ever Hoi An International Lantern Festival this December, and a Creative Week at the end of August. Below are all thirteen 2026 lantern nights, corrected, plus the two new events and what actually happens on the ground.

№ 01All 13 lantern nights in 2026

The Hoi An Lantern Festival falls on the 14th day of each lunar month, the eve of the full moon. Because the lunar year does not line up with the Gregorian one, 2026 contains thirteen of these nights, not twelve — a detail almost every list online gets wrong, usually by dropping 30 April.

№ 02New: Hoi An International Lantern Festival, 3–6 December 2026

This is the headline change for 2026, and it has barely reached English-language travel sites yet. Da Nang City has issued the plan for the first ever Hoi An International Lantern Festival, themed “Hoi An – Colours of Heritage”.

• Dates: 3 to 6 December 2026, four days
• Venues: Hoai River square, An Hoi sculpture garden, along the Hoai River and several streets inside the Ancient Town
• Scale: around 15 large-scale lantern art installations
• Opening night: a performance staged both on the riverbank and on the water
• Hands-on: a lantern-making experience area and a Hoi An food zone
• Also on: a lantern and recycled-art exhibition, the “Colours of Heritage” arts programme, a night lantern procession, a talk on Hoi An handicrafts, a photography contest and a lantern-pattern design competition

Note that 3–6 December falls between two ordinary lantern nights (22 November and 22 December), so the festival is a separate event rather than an upgrade of a monthly one. If you want both experiences, December is the month to come.

№ 03New: Hoi An Creative Week, 28 August – 2 September 2026

The same city plan also sets out Hoi An Creative Week 2026, themed “A journey touching heritage, touching creativity”. If you are in town in late August, this one is happening within weeks.

• Dates: 28 August to 2 September 2026
• Venues: Hoai River square, An Hoi sculpture garden, the Ancient Town, plus craft villages and creative spaces across the wards
• Opening: launch of the Hoi An Creative Map, a digital platform mapping the town’s creative ecosystem
• Talks: the “Whole village of craft” discussion series and a training programme bringing craft villages online
• Exhibitions: art installations, creative workshops and an AI experience zone for children
• Interactive: a GPS-based challenge trail through the town

Details of both new events are drawn from the Da Nang City plan as reported by Tuoi Tre on 31 July 2026. Programmes for new events can shift — confirm close to the date.

№ 04Which night to pick

Not all thirteen nights are the same experience. If you have flexibility, this is how we would rank them.

1. 2 March — eve of Tet Nguyen TieuThe single biggest lantern night of the year. Maximum atmosphere, maximum crowd. Come if you want the full spectacle and do not mind shoulder-to-shoulder streets.
2. 24 September — eve of Mid-AutumnLion dance troupes move through the streets, children carry star lanterns. The best night if you are travelling with kids.
3. 23 October or 22 NovemberRainy season. Fewer people, wet cobbles reflecting the lanterns, and the photographs are usually better. Bring a poncho and accept you may get rained on.
4. 26 AugustThe next one up, and it sits right before Creative Week. Hot, but the events calendar makes up for it.
5. 22 DecemberCool, dry, and the international festival installations from early December should still be in place.
6. Avoid 30 April if you dislike crowdsLantern night colliding with the Reunification Day holiday is the most crowded combination on the calendar.

№ 05What happens hour by hour

One thing worth knowing: the lantern night is not a single ticketed show with a start time. It is the whole Old Town changing state for four hours. There is no stage to find and no queue to join — you walk in and you are in it.

№ 06What it costs and whether you need a ticket

Short answer: walking around on lantern night is free. There is no festival ticket, no wristband and no gate.

• Walking the Old Town on lantern night: free. Nobody sells a festival ticket.
• The Ancient Town heritage ticket: only needed to enter the ticketed monuments — old houses, assembly halls, museums. Most of these close before the lanterns come on, so on lantern night specifically you rarely need it. See our guide to the Hoi An smart ticket kiosks.
• Floating a candle lantern: typically 10,000 to 20,000 VND from riverside vendors. Agree the price before handing over money.
• A boat on the Hoai River: usually 150,000 to 300,000 VND per boat depending on size, length and how hard you negotiate. Prices climb sharply on the busiest nights.
• Motorbike parking: 5,000 to 10,000 VND, and expect higher on festival nights.

№ 07Getting there and the parking problem

This is where most visitors lose an hour. On lantern night the core of the Old Town closes to vehicles from around 17:30, and the streets that normally take motorbikes are barricaded. If you ride in at 18:30 you will be turned back and you will be hunting for parking in the dark with everyone else.

1. Arrive before 17:00Park while there is still space and daylight, then walk in. This single decision saves the most time.
2. Park on the outer ringLook around Phan Chau Trinh, Hoang Dieu, Nguyen Hue and Tran Hung Dao rather than driving toward Tran Phu. Full breakdown in our guide to Old Town vehicle restriction hours.
3. Do not bring a carOn lantern nights car parking near the centre is close to hopeless. Park well out and walk, or leave the car at the hotel.
4. From An Bang or Cua Dai beach4 to 6km, 10 to 15 minutes by motorbike. Leave by 16:30 on a lantern night.
5. From Da NangAbout 30km, 45 to 60 minutes. Set off by 15:30 if you want to park comfortably and eat before the lights go out.

№ 08Local tips for a better night

• Eat before 18:00. Restaurants in the core fill up the moment the lights go down, and service slows to a crawl.
• Cross to the An Hoi side. Most visitors stay on the Ancient Town bank. The view back across the river from An Hoi is better and far less crowded.
• Bring cash in small notes. Lantern vendors and boat owners rarely take cards, and nobody has change for a 500,000 note.
• Walk one street back from the river. Nguyen Thai Hoc and the alleys off it hold the atmosphere without the crush. Try our guide to the hidden alleys of Hoi An.
• Rain is not a reason to cancel. Wet stone reflects lantern light and the crowds thin. A cheap poncho beats an umbrella in a packed street.
• Do not release paper lanterns into the sky. Sky lanterns are a fire risk in a wooden heritage town and are not part of this festival. The river candles are the tradition here.
• Stay past 22:00 if you can. When the electric lights return and the crowd drains away, the Old Town in the last hour is something most visitors never see.

The best twenty minutes of lantern night are the twenty minutes after everyone leaves.— Anh Khoa, Hoi An local

№ 09The thing nobody tells you: Hoi An has lanterns every night

A large share of visitors plan an entire trip around one date, arrive, and then realise the Old Town is hung with lanterns every single evening of the year. It is worth being clear about what the monthly festival actually adds, so you can decide how much to bend your itinerary.

The honest summary: the difference is the darkness, not the lanterns. Without competing electric light and neon signage, the silk lanterns become the only light source and the whole town shifts colour. That is a real and worthwhile difference — but if your dates simply do not line up, you are not missing the lanterns themselves. You are missing one particular version of the same street.

Practical consequence: if you can only visit on an ordinary night, go anyway, and go late. After about 21:30 the tour groups thin out and the Old Town at ordinary-night quiet is arguably more pleasant than lantern night at peak crush.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Hoi An Lantern Festival in 2026?

It falls on the 14th day of each lunar month, which gives thirteen nights in 2026: 2 January, 1 February, 2 March, 1 April, 30 April, 30 May, 28 June, 27 July, 26 August, 24 September, 23 October, 22 November and 22 December. Many lists online show only twelve because they leave out 30 April.

Is there an international lantern festival in Hoi An?

Yes. Da Nang City has approved the plan for the first ever Hoi An International Lantern Festival, running 3 to 6 December 2026 under the theme Hoi An – Colours of Heritage. It takes place at Hoai River square, the An Hoi sculpture garden and along the river, with around 15 large lantern art installations.

How long will the international festival installations stay up?

The lantern art installations are planned to remain in place until the end of Tet Nguyen Tieu 2027, the first full moon of the new lunar year in late February 2027. That means you can still see them in January and February without the December festival crowds.

What is Hoi An Creative Week 2026?

Hoi An Creative Week runs 28 August to 2 September 2026 with the theme A journey touching heritage, touching creativity. It includes the launch of the Hoi An Creative Map, talks on craft villages, exhibitions, workshops, an AI experience zone for children and a GPS-based challenge trail through the town.

Do you need a ticket for the Hoi An Lantern Festival?

No. Walking around the Old Town on lantern night is free and there is no festival ticket. The Ancient Town heritage ticket is only needed for the ticketed monuments such as old houses and assembly halls, and most of those close before the lanterns are lit.

What time does the Hoi An Lantern Festival start?

Electric lights in the Old Town go off from roughly 18:00 to 22:00. Motorbikes are cleared from the core at about 17:30. The candle floating on the Hoai River peaks between 19:00 and 21:00. Arrive before 17:00 if you want to park easily and eat before the lights go down.

How much does it cost to float a lantern on the river?

A candle lantern usually costs 10,000 to 20,000 VND from riverside vendors. A boat on the Hoai River typically runs 150,000 to 300,000 VND depending on size and negotiation, and prices rise on the busiest nights. Agree the price before you get in.

Which lantern night is the best one to visit?

2 March 2026 is the biggest, as it is the eve of Tet Nguyen Tieu. 24 September is best for families because it falls on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival. For fewer crowds and better photographs, 23 October or 22 November during the rainy season are the quieter choices.

Updated August 2026. The 2026 lantern dates were calculated from the lunar calendar and cross-checked against fixed anchors — Tet on 17 February 2026 and Mid-Autumn on 25 September 2026. Details of the Hoi An International Lantern Festival and Hoi An Creative Week come from the Da Nang City plan as reported by Tuoi Tre on 31 July 2026; programmes for first-edition events can change, so confirm close to your travel dates. Prices for boats, candle lanterns and parking are typical rather than fixed and rise on busy nights. This page contains an affiliate link: if you book through it we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.