Hoi An Lantern Festival 2027: Full Moon Dates and Prices

The Hoi An lantern festival happens once a month, on the 14th day of the lunar month, the eve of the full-moon day. The next dates are 22 November and 22 December 2026, then 21 January and 19 February 2027. The old town turns off its electric lights and people float paper lanterns on the Hoai River.

Hoi An lantern festival 2026 and 2027 dates

Every date below is the 14th lunar day, from the Hong Kong Observatory's lunar conversion tables. We also checked each new moon against Vietnam's time zone, UTC+7, one hour behind the China time the Observatory uses, which is where the two calendars can split by a day. None of these months does. The sunset column is for the 2027 night, worked out for Hoi An itself; the 2026 night in the same row sets within 10 minutes of it.

Two more nights fall early in 2026 but belong to the previous lunar year: Friday 2 January and Sunday 1 February. That makes 13 festival nights in calendar year 2026, with two of them in April.

Some popular sites print 1 March 2026 or 10 November 2027. Both are a day out. Six of the 2027 nights land on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday (19 February, 21 March, 18 June, 17 July, 15 August and 11 December), and those are the ones where weekenders from Da Nang pile in on top of the tour groups.

What happens on the night

The festival began in 1998, when the town started switching off its electric lights once a month. Families hang lanterns outside their houses, shops dim their signs and the old town is closed to motorbikes.

The main sight is the river. Children and vendors along the Hoai River sell paper lotus lanterns with a small candle inside, for about 5,000 to 15,000 VND each. You light one and set it on the water from the bank or from a boat. By 8 pm the stretch between the An Hoi Bridge and the Japanese Covered Bridge is a slow drift of small flames.

Lantern boats on the Hoai River as the light goes.

Around the edges there are folk games. Bai choi, a sung bingo game that UNESCO listed in 2017, is played near the An Hoi Bridge. Blindfolded pot-smashing costs from about 10,000 VND a go. The night market on Nguyen Hoang Street, across the bridge, runs as usual.

What time does it start, and when should you arrive?

Lanterns are lit from about 6 pm, and by about 8 pm most electric lights in the old town are off. Things wind down between 9 pm and 10 pm, when the boats thin out and the shops start closing. The heritage centre's walking-street hours end at 9 pm in winter and 9:30 pm in summer.

Arrive 30 to 45 minutes before sunset, which in Hoi An swings from 17:13 in late November to about 18:20 in June and July. You see the old town in daylight, then the switch to lantern light, which is when most of the good photos are taken. The busiest stretch is 7 pm to 9 pm. Keep phones and bags in front of you on the riverfront and hold small children's hands on Bach Dang Street.

Book dinner for before 6 pm or after 9 pm. The riverside terraces on Bach Dang Street go first, and our list of the best restaurants in Hoi An ancient town marks the ones with a river view.

From Da Nang, Hoi An is about 30 km and 40 to 50 minutes by road. Leave by 4 pm on a festival night. Our Da Nang to Hoi An transport guide compares the bus, Grab and a private car. Coming from the north, our Hanoi to Hoi An guide compares the flight, the night train and the overland route.

How much it costs: tickets, boats and lanterns

The festival has no ticket of its own, but the old town does. Since the heritage centre's January 2026 notice there are two tiers for everyone: 80,000 VND gets you three sites, and 120,000 VND gets five, one of them a museum. Both must include either the Japanese Covered Bridge or Quan Cong Temple, both last up to three days, and under-16s go free. The ticket also covers the evening bai choi and folk games.

Boats are where people get overcharged. Buy from the official counters on Bach Dang and Nguyen Phuc Chu streets, where the fare is posted in Vietnamese and English, not from a boatman calling from the steps. A ride lasts only 15 to 20 minutes, and staying out longer costs extra, paid to the rower. Pay cash. ATMs near the old town get long queues on festival nights, so take out cash in the afternoon. If you would rather not haggle at all, these Hoi An lantern festival tours compare a lantern-making workshop, a guided walk and a boat ride after dark, with times and prices.

Silk lanterns cost about 50,000 to 300,000 VND.

Silk lanterns are cheaper in the workshops away from the river, and most of them fold flat for a suitcase. Our guide to what to buy in Hoi An covers tailors and the rest of the shopping.

Adding Phong Nha to a Hoi An trip

If the Hoi An lantern festival is the one fixed date in your Vietnam plan, build the rest around it. Phong Nha is about 340 km north of Hoi An: 7 to 8 hours by private car, 8 to 10 by direct bus. Our Hoi An to Phong Nha guide compares every option.

Phong Nha is about 340 km north of Hoi An.

If you only have one day there, the Elephant Cave and Ma Da Valley trek costs VND 1,950,000, about US$74, prices checked November 2026. It runs daily with pickup around 8:00 AM, takes children from 9, and includes a 600 m swim into Tra Ang water cave in a life jacket and headlamp.

Is the full moon lantern festival worth it, or is any night the same?

Partly. Silk lanterns hang over the old town and boats float paper lanterns on the Hoai River every evening of the year. Only the 14th brings the lights-off streets, the games and the crowds.

If your dates already include a festival night, plan your Hoi An evening around it. If not, do not rearrange a two-week trip for it. The nights either side are quieter and the boats still run. Most of our things to do in Hoi An work on any evening.

The festival is busiest on the first full moon after Tet and at Mid-Autumn. The 2027 first full moon falls on 19 February, 13 days after Tet itself on 6 February. The official Tet holiday runs from 4 to 10 February 2027. Mid-Autumn eve is 14 September 2027, and our Mid-Autumn Festival guide explains the mooncakes and lion dances that come with it.

The Japanese Covered Bridge marks the west end of the lantern stretch.

Which months are best, and what happens in a flood

Long-term averages at the Da Nang station, 30 km up the coast, make February to April the driest stretch, at 24 to 35 mm of rain a month. September brings 351 mm, October 628 mm and November 448 mm. The Hoi An weather guide has the full year.

Floods stop the riverside part. When the Thu Bon rises, Bach Dang Street goes under first and boats are banned. In 2025 the old town flooded three times in 20 days between late October and mid-November, VietNamNet reported. If you are coming for the 22 November 2026 or 11 November 2027 date, book a refundable room above ground level and check the forecast two days ahead.

Nguyen Phuc Chu Street on An Hoi islet, one of the boat-ticket streets, under floodwater.

Phong Nha takes the same autumn rain, and a storm can still call off a trek; Jungle Boss then offers new dates, another tour or a full refund. Only Bach Ma and the two Do Quyen tours close for September to November, reopening on 1 December. The two-day Ma Da Valley camping trip runs all year, costs VND 5,175,000, about US$196, and adds a night in a tent beside Ma Da Lake to the Elephant Cave and Tra Ang route.

December 2026 has an extra event. Da Nang city will hold the first Hoi An International Lantern Festival from 3 to 6 December 2026, along the Hoai River and in the An Hoi sculpture garden, with about 15 large lantern installations, according to Tuoi Tre News.