National Day (Sept 2) art program & fireworks

   Once a year the square in front of the City Theatre turns into the living room of the whole port city: at 20:00 on 2 September it hosts a large open-air concert, «Dưới ánh sao độc lập» («Under the Star of Independence») — no tickets and no seating. It runs in two parts, «Ký ức hào hùng» and «Từ kỷ nguyên độc lập đến kỷ nguyên vươn mình», performed by the Hai Phong Contemporary Art Theatre and the Military Region 3 song and dance company. The fireworks, meanwhile, have moved out to sea this year — to Cát Bà Bay, and watching them means a separate trip.

   The occasion belongs to the whole country: independence was declared on Ba Đình Square in Hanoi on 2 September 1945, and 2026 marks the 81st anniversary. The programme on the theatre square is called «Dưới ánh sao độc lập» («Under the Star of Independence»), staged by the Hai Phong Contemporary Art Theatre (Nhà hát Nghệ thuật đương đại Hải Phòng): song, dance and instrumental numbers carry the audience from the revolutionary struggle and the war years to the country as it is today, with rehearsals led by Merited Artist Đức Hoài, the theatre’s deputy director. On the evening of 2 September the open-air stage at the Youth and Children’s Culture Palace hosts «Bài ca độc lập» («Song of Independence»), a community amateur programme. The fireworks this year belong to the island: four evenings — 29 and 30 August, 1 and 2 September — at 21:45 over the centre of Cát Bà Bay, under fifteen minutes each, free to watch; there is no display on 31 August.

   Last year showed what that looks like on the ground. On 2 September 2025 this same square hosted the programme “Vang mãi bản hùng ca” (“The heroic song echoes on”) — 90 minutes, 12 song, dance and instrumental numbers in two parts. At the same hour, in the western half of the enlarged city, the Xứ Đông Culture Centre square ran “Rạng rỡ Việt Nam”, and fireworks went up at both points straight afterwards. Thousands watched at the theatre.

   The building behind the stage is Hai Phong's best-known landmark. The French built the City Theatre at the turn of the 20th century, and the exact dates are still unsettled: the city portal admits that no founding documents have been traced, and the earliest known image is a photograph dated 12 May 1909 held by the Hai Phong Museum. Museum researchers describe the style as neoclassical, with Baroque massing and French romantic decorative painting; on 9 December 2015 the theatre was listed as a national architectural and artistic monument.

   The square has its own claim on the holiday. On the morning of 23 August 1945 a mass rally here announced the dissolution of the puppet administration and the founding of Hai Phong's provisional revolutionary people's committee — ten days before independence was proclaimed. On 13 May 1955 tens of thousands gathered on the same stones to meet the troops taking over the city.

   Bring the family, bring friends, bring visitors: it is an open-air stage with no seating, and you can drift in and out as you like. Do plan for crowds — state offices are off from 29 August to 2 September this year. Arrive at the theatre an hour or so early and you will be watching the stage rather than the back of someone’s head; the same goes for the Culture Palace stage the following evening. And if you want the fireworks too, plan a separate trip to Cát Bà: the island is a long way from the city centre, and there is no coming back the same evening.