Hoi An Festivals: 4 Worth Timing For

Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use.

Hoi An’s calendar is simpler than most travel sites make it sound: one festival happens every month, and everything else clusters around a couple of dates worth planning a whole trip against.

4 events worth timing for

  1. The Full Moon Lantern Festival, the 14th day of every lunar month. Street electricity is cut in the old town, traffic stops, and floating candle-lanterns go out onto the Thu Bon. This isn’t an annual event, it’s monthly, roughly 12 nights a year; 2026’s second-half dates run 26 Aug, 24 Sep, 23 Oct, 22 Nov, and 22 Dec (verify closer to the date). You can float a lantern on any regular night, but a boat trip timed to the festival is the amplified version.
  2. Tet, Vietnamese Lunar New Year, 17 February 2026. Hoi An stays notably more open than most of Vietnam over Tet, but tailors typically close for around two weeks and some restaurants for around 10 days, so confirm ahead if you’re relying on either. The biggest lantern night of the year tends to land on the first full moon after Tet, around 2 March 2026.
  3. The Mid-Autumn Festival, roughly September-October (verify exact date year to year), which often coincides with one of the year’s most crowded lantern nights on top of the regular monthly one.
  4. Cham festivals at My Son. Ceremonies tied to the Cham Hindu tradition still take place at the UNESCO-listed temple complex itself, adding a layer to a visit beyond the ruins if your dates line up.

Do I need to plan my whole trip around the full moon?

No, but it helps. The lantern festival happens monthly, so most weeklong trips will catch one without any special planning. Check the lunar date for your travel window before assuming you’ve missed it, since it moves against the regular calendar.

For the rest of what to build a trip around, see our Hoi An guide and our Hoi An itineraries , which slot a lantern night into the evening plan.