Hoi An Ancient Town hosts lantern festival from 3 December

Hoi An Ancient Town, or Hoi An, will host the Hoi An International Lantern Festival from 3 to 6 December 2026. The festival will bring lantern installations, making workshops, artistic exchanges and a parade to the historic town in central Vietnam.

The programme places traditional craft within a World Heritage setting. It gives travellers from Western Europe a defined four-day period for exhibitions, creative activities and performances rather than only the town’s regular cultural offer.

Lantern festival sets a four-day programme

The Da Nang City Tourism Promotion Centre says the festival will take place under the theme Colors of Heritage. Its venues include Song Hoai Square, An Hoi Sculpture Garden, the Hoai River and streets throughout the ancient town, as set out in the festival programme.

The listed activities include the History of Hoi An Lanterns exhibition at Hoi An Communal House and a lantern-making experience at Song Hoai Square. The programme also includes the Minh Dang Da Hanh lantern parade, the Colors of Heritage art programme and a photography exhibition and exchange.

Craft traditions meet Hoi An historic townscape

UNESCO describes Hoi An Ancient Town as a South-East Asian trading port active from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Its buildings and street plan combine indigenous traditions with Chinese, Japanese and later European influences.

The inscribed property covers 30 ha and includes 1,107 timber-frame buildings, according to the UNESCO World Heritage record. Lantern-making therefore meets a townscape of wooden buildings, narrow pedestrian streets, a river setting and an eighteenth-century Japanese bridge.

UNESCO added the property to the World Heritage List in 1999. Hoi An later joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Crafts and Folk Art, a designation that relates directly to the festival’s focus on traditional making and contemporary design.

Visiting Hoi An Ancient Town: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• The Hoi An International Lantern Festival runs from 3 to 6 December 2026 across Song Hoai Square, An Hoi Sculpture Garden, the Hoai River and streets in the ancient town.
• The programme includes a lantern exhibition, hands-on making, artistic exchanges, performances and the Minh Dang Da Hanh parade; the announcement does not state a general admission policy.
• Hoi An Ancient Town lies in central Vietnam on the north bank near the mouth of the Thu Bon River, within a 30 ha UNESCO property.
• The heritage area has narrow pedestrian streets and tightly arranged historic buildings, so visitors should expect walking through a compact traditional townscape.
• Vietnamese is the official language and the national currency is the Vietnamese dong.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

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Frequently asked questions about Hoi An Ancient Town

When does the Hoi An International Lantern Festival take place?

The festival takes place from 3 to 6 December 2026 in Hoi An Ancient Town, with activities across Song Hoai Square, An Hoi Sculpture Garden, the Hoai River and the old town streets.

What is Hoi An Ancient Town?

It is a well-preserved South-East Asian trading port dating from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, with 1,107 timber-frame buildings in a UNESCO property.

Where is Hoi An Ancient Town and how do you get there?

The town is in central Vietnam on the north bank near the mouth of the Thu Bon River. The heritage area is organised around narrow pedestrian streets and riverside routes.