16 Popular Festivals and Events to attend in Vietnam
Check out the festival and holiday calendar before you apply for your visa. Especially, make sure to apply for the visa at least 2 months beforehand if you plan to visit during the Tet Festival. This is when tourists and the Vietnamese in overseas visit Vietnam, and there is a rush for visas.
1. Tet Nguyen Dan /Lunar New Year Festival (January – February)
The Tet is the festival of the Lunar New Year, when it is also a holiday throughout Vietnam. Cities like Hanoi are the best place to enjoy festivities, operas, parties and fireworks displays. Like most Vietnamese festivals, there is also a spiritual aspect, with visits to pagodas for prayers and offerings.
Usher in the New Year the Vietnamese way by beating drums and watching firecrackers light up the skies!
2. Bai Dinh Pagoda Festival (January – February)
On the 1st day of the Lunar New Year, millions of Buddhists come together at the Bai Dinh Pagoda for this spring festival. It is a major Buddhist festival, and a must-do for every tourist. Watch huge palanquin processions of the God Cao Son, Holy Nguyen and Thanh Mau Thuong Ngan; participate in elaborate ceremonies and festivities. Visit the vast temple complex that has the honour of having the largest Buddha statue and Bronze Bell.
3. Lim Festival (February)
On the 13th day of the Lunar New Year, men and women come together at the pagoda on Lim Hill in Bac Ninh province to worship Lady King and Hieu Trung Hau. Visitors can watch weaving events, participate in the quan ho traditional songs, and enjoy songs performed from boats. Listen to folk songs and watch folk games like the danh du. This is a great place to unwind and watch the place come alive with colours and sounds.
4. Perfume Pagoda festival (February – March)
The 15th day of the 1st lunar month brings together locals at the Perfume Pagoda in Hanoi, an incredible site in Vietnam, to pray to Lord Buddha for a good year ahead. Beginning with a dragon dance at Den Trinh Pagoda, participants travel by boat to the Huong Tich Cave, for worship. Although the Pagoda can be accessed by land as well, make sure to take the waterway route to enjoy the stunning landscapes.
5. Thay Pagoda Festival (March – April)
This is a festival in honour of the Buddhist monk Tu Dao Hanh, and his contribution to medicine and religion. He is also known for developing the Vietnamese Water Puppetry, and the festival serves the perfect occasion for water puppetry performances in front of the Thay Pagoda.
6. Phu Day festival (April)
This is a must-do colourful festival to participate in Buddhist processions, while indulging in xam folk music, dance, tuong and cheo operas, and a vibrant market fair. Held in Phu Day Temple in the Nam Dinh Province, the festival worships Princess Lieu Hanh with quaint must-see Holy Mother Rituals.
7. Hung Temple Festival (April)
The festival commemorates the death anniversary of Kinh Duong Vuong, the first King of Vietnam. Enjoy the magnificent vision of 100 lanterns released into the sky. Watch the amazing flower and incense-offering ceremonies at the Upper Hung Temple, followed by traditional processions. Watch Vietnamese operas (ca tru) and sword dances, ancient drum-beating (cham thau) and rice-pounding (dam duong) rituals, listen to Xoan songs and indulge in plenty of fun and gaiety.
8. Danang International Fireworks Festival (April)
This is an annual event held at Da Nang to promote Vietnamese culture and tourism. Firework displays along the river, traditional boat races, flower drops from the sky and vivid imagery created in the sky, are some of the highlights. For a great beginning to a Vietnam holiday, apply for your visa, book your ticket and hop over.
9. Victory Day / Liberation Day (April)
Also known as Reunification Day, this Day is one of the most important public holidays in Vietnam. It is a national celebration marking the end of the Vietnam War and unification of its regions. Flag-bearing patriotic parades and nationalist songs in public squares and main city roads, remind you of the liberation of Vietnam.
10. Xen Xo Phon festival (April – May)
This is a pagan festival of the White Thai farmers, who depend upon the rains for a good harvest. The entire community comes together to please the rain gods. While the young people sing songs in the dark of the night, the elders pray and give offerings to the rain gods.
11. Buddha’s Birthday (May)
Temples and communities across Vietnam celebrate the birth of Lord Buddha. A must-see festival for its might and visual feast, you can expect colourful parades on the streets, processions of Buddhist monks, prayer sessions, and incense-offering rituals. As it is the night of the full moon, celebrations include illuminated lanterns floating down waterways and pagodas decked up with flowers and lights.
12. Wandering Souls Day / Trung Nguyen (September)
Like many other S-E Asian nations, the Vietnamese too remember their lost ones. This is the day when families pay respect to the visiting souls of the departed. People visit pagodas, and monks perform rituals and prayers. Travellers must experience some of the cold feasts prepared on this occasion.
13. Mid-Autumn Festival (September)
A must-do for every tourist in Vietnam, the Tet Trung Thu festival, is a colourful harvest festival when households make offerings to the full moon. Vivid lantern displays, lion dances, feasts and fiesta mark this festival.
14. Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival (September)
This is an ancient pagan festival held to celebrate the valour of the tribes of Do Son, Hai Phong. Although similar to the bull-fighting of Spain, this Vietnamese festival is associated with worship of the water spirits, in the ritual of Hien Sinh.
15. The Hoi An Full Moon Lantern festival (14th day of every lunar month)
A monthly festival held at Hoi An on the 14th of every lunar month, this is Vietnam at its spectacular best. The festival is a celebration of light on the occasion of full moon - with lanterns, music and traditional candle-lit ceremonies.
16. Hue Festival (April – May – June)
Another must-do on a traveller’s Vietnam calendar is the Hue festival which celebrates the tradition and culture of Vietnam. So you can expect spectacular shows, street performances, sporting events, boat parades and much more, at the Hue city.
