Festival «Sông Cổ Cò – Hội An Tây 2026» (Co Co River Festival)

   A stretch of water that once carried cargo between the old port of Hội An and Đà Nẵng is being handed back to the people who live along it: sails going up, floating lanterns drifting downstream, a country market laid out at the water's edge. This is the working, riverside side of Hội An Tây rather than the postcard one.

   The theme this year is «Cổ Cò – Dòng chảy di sản» («Cổ Cò – The Flow of Heritage»), and it runs as one continuous journey: river ecology, craft-village culture, local food and community life. The opening programme, «Sông Cổ Cò, xưa – nay – khát vọng tương lai» («The Cổ Cò River: Past, Present and Aspirations for the Future»), is staged as a narrative moving from tradition to the present, and closes with the sail-hoisting ritual, a floating-lantern ceremony and boats leaving the bank.

   What is actually on the programme:

• — Exhibition areas: the Hội An door-eye collection of collector Bao Ly (Bảo Ly), the floodwood collection of Làng Củi Lũ, the bamboo-root collection of Phương Đỏ, plus ceramic lanterns and riverside fishing gear.
• — Country market and OCOP booths (Vietnam's «one commune, one product» scheme): Trà Quế vegetables, seafood, fish and shrimp, local produce and Hội An Tây handicrafts.
• — Craft demonstrations: net casting, net weaving, pottery making and local cooking.
• — Community art: folk-song exchanges, bài chòi and hò khoan performances, and pieces about the river and the people of Hội An Tây.
• — On the water: «Sông Trăng Cổ Cò» («Cổ Cò Moon River») — river and sea specialities with music aboard a large boat, sailboat and kayak displays, and boat or sampan trips subject to conditions on the day.

   The festival suits families with young children, anyone who travels by way of the food stalls, and visitors who would rather watch a craft being done than see it behind glass. The second day sets aside time for children: a painting contest on traditional kites under the theme «Em yêu dòng sông Cổ Cò quê em» («I love the Cổ Cò River of my hometown»), alongside folk dance, exchanges between residential groups and community associations, and traditional games such as clay-pot breaking and net-weaving contests.

   The Cổ Cò is not an ordinary river. It was the waterway linking the Hội An trading port with old Đà Nẵng, carrying goods, people and a whole riverside way of life. The 2026 edition is designed to promote the river, showcase local produce and traditional craft villages, and build a new tourism product for Hội An Tây. Environmental practice is written into how it runs: waste sorted at source, single-use plastic kept down, the riverbank landscape protected.

   The two days have completely different rhythms. Day one starts late in the afternoon: stalls open at 16:00, the opening programme runs 17:00–18:30, «Sông Trăng Cổ Cò» 18:30–19:30, and community performances continue until 22:00. Day two starts at dawn: 06:00–09:00 for net-casting demonstrations and the country market, 09:00–11:00 for OCOP booths and the exhibition spaces, 14:30–16:30 for the busiest block of activities; food service runs continuously from 06:00 to 17:00.

   The grounds spread along the riverbank and through the small park at the foot of An Bàng Bridge, and part of the programme happens on the water itself. Organisers have not published prices for the food service or the on-boat experiences, and boat and sampan trips depend on conditions on the river that day.

   Two days beside a river that once moved an entire trading port — take the opening evening for the sails and lanterns, or the early morning for the market and the fishermen.