Hoi An lantern festival: monthly dates, what’s free and the flood season

When is the next Hoi An lantern festival?

What travelers call the Hoi An lantern festival is officially the Reenactment of Hoi An Legendary Night in the Early 20th Century. It has run since 1998 on the evening of the 14th day of every lunar month, the eve of the 15th, which is why you will also see it described as a full moon festival, although the astronomical full moon can fall a day or two later. Locals simply call it Old Town Night (Đêm phố cổ).

On September 24, 2026, the program ran from 6:30 to 9 pm; other nights may differ. On November 22 the sun sets at 5:14 pm and it is dark by about 5:35, so be in town before 5:30 if you want to see the lanterns come on and find a spot by the river. Big occasions such as the Mid-Autumn and Nguyen Tieu festivals get their own program on the Hoi An heritage center’s notices page.

If you would like to add events around Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day (November 23), check this year’s program before extending your stay.

Which night to pick at the end of the year

• November 22: falls in mid flood season and on a Sunday, so expect bigger crowds. It works if you are in central Vietnam for several days and can move your Hoi An evening. If the Old Town floods that day, go back only once the roads are safe and services have restarted. Lanterns and boat rides run on ordinary evenings too, though without the full program of the 14th.
• December 22: a weekday. It falls after the official flood season (which ends December 15), but still check rain and flood warnings and road access before you go, and pack a rain jacket.
• If you only have one evening in Hoi An and the lanterns are the main reason for the trip, January 21, 2027 or any night from February on carries much less flood worry.

What happens on the night, and what costs money

On the 14th, the Old Town dims its electric lights and relies mostly on lanterns and candles. Local clubs recite poetry, sing tuồng (classical opera) and folk songs, put on traditional martial arts, play Chinese chess and human chess, run games of bài chòi (a sung folk bingo) and write calligraphy. Along the Hoai River, vendors sell paper lanterns to float and lantern boats take passengers out.

Floating lanterns and boat rides: what to know

• Boat tickets are issued by the boat operators’ association and sold at the landings at posted prices. If someone waves you aboard without a ticket, agree on the price before you step in.
• Wear the life jacket for the whole ride, however short. Seat children in the middle and don’t lean out when you set a lantern down.
• The steps down to the water are dark and crowded. Hold small children’s hands there, and agree on a meeting point away from the river if you are in a group.

Visiting Hoi An in November and December: what the floods mean

Hoi An sits on the lower Thu Bon River about 30 km (19 miles) from Da Nang, so it shares central Vietnam’s rainy season. At the Da Nang weather station, November averages 448 mm (17.6 in) of rain over about 20 days, and December 218 mm (8.6 in). The official river flood season for this stretch of coast runs from September 1 to December 15. Vietnam’s seasonal outlook of October 15, 2026 leans toward less rain than usual in central Vietnam this winter, but does not rule out heavy spells.

What to check before and on the day

• Three to five days out: check the rain forecast and warnings on the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting site (in Vietnamese). Use a browser translation if needed, and ask your accommodation to explain any warning you are unsure about. If warnings affect Hoi An or your route there, postpone the visit and reassess when updated advice allows.
• The morning you go: open the Vietnam disaster monitoring map, turn on the water level stations and see which alarm level the Hoi An gauge on the Thu Bon River is at.
• Ask your hotel what the streets look like right now, whether its street floods and where cars and luggage go if the water rises.
• Book rooms and transfers you can change or cancel, and don’t put Hoi An on the last day before your flight out.

What a flood in the Old Town looks like

At the Hoi An gauge on the Thu Bon River, alarm level 2 is 1.5 m and alarm level 3 is 2 m. On November 15, 2023 the river reached 1.77 m and Bach Dang Street along the Hoai River was under 0.5-0.7 m of water. In 2025 the Old Town flooded three times between October 26 and November 22; in the late-October flood the river came close to the 1964 record, many shops sat under 2-3 m of water and tourism nearly stopped for four to five days.

The riverside streets usually flood first, and then you may not be able to reach the boat landings or the lantern area at all.

If the Old Town floods while you are there

• Follow the police and local wardens. Don’t wade through moving water or go near the riverbank, and stay out of flooded streets after dark, when you can’t see potholes or open drains.
• Skip the “flood boat tours”. In November 2025 the Hoi An ward authorities banned boat rides through the flooded town and on the river during floods, allowing boats only to move people out of flooded areas. A boat touting rides while the water is rising is breaking that ban.
• Switch to Da Nang or elsewhere for a day, and come back once the water is down and the streets are cleaned up.

Hoi An Old Town tickets: 20,000 VND per site since August 10, 2026

The 20,000 VND per-site fee has applied since August 10, 2026, the same for Vietnamese and foreign visitors, according to the Da Nang city notice (in Vietnamese). The 120,000 VND foreigner ticket still listed in many guides is the old bundled ticket.

Children under 16 and students are on the exemption list; the exemptions for people aged 60 and over and for people with disabilities are written for Vietnamese citizens. If you expect to use an exemption, ask at the booth and carry a passport copy or student card.

Walking the streets, having dinner or coffee does not require a ticket (a rule since 2023); you pay only for the sites you enter. How the new fee is sold, site by site or as a bundle, is best checked at a ticket booth; keep your tickets until you are done sightseeing.

Getting there from Da Nang, and when to arrive

The Old Town is about 30 km by road from Da Nang airport and from central Da Nang, roughly 30-50 minutes by car or Grab depending on traffic. Coming from Hue, take the Hue to Da Nang train and continue by car from Da Nang station.

Public buses between Da Nang and Hoi An mostly run in the daytime: route 02 from Da Nang Central Bus Station to Cua Dai runs from 4:45 am to 6 pm (June 2026 information, in Vietnamese). If you stay until around 9 pm, plan on a taxi or Grab back, or a night in Hoi An, and check what time that night’s program ends. The Old Town core is pedestrian-only in the evening, so agree on an easy pickup point outside it and save it on your map.

Arrive before sunset (5:14 pm on November 22, 5:21 pm on December 22) to walk the streets while they are still quiet; when the riverbank is at its busiest, explore the inner streets first and come back to the river later.