Festival «Đèn lồng quốc tế Hội An 2026» (Hoi An International Lantern Festival)

   The town where thousands of silk lanterns light up the yellow streets every evening is hosting an international lantern festival for the first time. Four nights of light, parades and competitions will fill Hoi An's ancient town under the theme «Hội An — Sắc màu di sản» (Hoi An — Colours of Heritage).

   The festival is organised by the Da Nang City People's Committee and is the first international lantern festival in Hoi An's history. The venues stretch from Song Hoai Square and the An Hoi sculpture garden along the Hoai river into the streets of the old town.

   Announced highlights:
— about 15 large-scale artistic lantern clusters
— an opening ceremony with performances on the water
— night lantern processions «minh đăng dạ hành» through the old town
— an exhibition of lanterns and art made from recycled materials
— a panel talk on the crafts of Hoi An
— lantern design and photography contests
— hands-on lantern-making areas
— culinary spaces

   Worth knowing: the display of artistic lanterns is not meant to come down after the closing — under the city's plan it should keep glowing in the town until the end of Tết Nguyên tiêu 2027, the full moon of the first lunar month, two weeks after the Lunar New Year.

   The artisans who beat the world

   In January 2025 the Hoi An Craft team won the world's first international lantern competition at the Ocean — Yuyuan festival: their 70-metre piece «Hồn thiêng đất Việt» (Sacred Soul of Vietnam) took twelve artisans two months to build, using coconut paper from Hoi An's own Cam Thanh village. The jury ranked the Vietnamese work first among 16 teams from five countries.

   Lanterns have long been the signature of the ancient town — a 15th–19th-century trading port under UNESCO protection since 1999. Now the craft itself is hosting an international stage.

   If you are anywhere in Central Vietnam in early December, give Hoi An an evening: walking among giant glowing installations in a UNESCO old town is the kind of sight that stays with you.