Asia Travel Expert - Southeast Asia Travel

Vietnam Holidays & Events through the year

Most traditional festivals in Vietnam have close links with Chinese cultural traditions, and follow the lunar calendar, which has only 29.5 days a month. Accordingly, the solar dates change annually, and the festivals do not fall on fixed dates. Secular holidays, by contrast, are fixed to the Western calendar, and often associated with the country’s recent revolutionary history.

Over the past two decades, with the liberalization of the Vietnamese economy and society, many traditional festivals have also staged a grand comeback, including those related to the imperial dynasties of Vietnam. These are marked by ancestor worship ceremonies, colorful parades, feasts, singing, and dancing. In addition to nationwide events, there are many local festivals as well, especially in the Red River Delta. The ethnic minorities in the north, and the Cham and Khmer of the south celebrate their own festivals.

Spring (February - April)
A time for renewal and rebirth, spring is the most festive season in Vietnam. Ushered in with the lunar new year, Tet festival, it marks a long period of merrymaking all cross the country.

1st Lunar Month
Tet Nguyen Dan or New Year Festival (late Jan – Feb). commonly known as Tet, this is the most important festival in the Vietnamese calendar. Homes and streets are decorated with lights and colorful flowers, stalls selling traditional foods are set up, and families exchange gifts and gather for feasts. Officially a three-day holiday, businesses often shut for a week. See more on Vietnam Tet Festival.
Founding day of the Vietnamese Communist Party (February 3th)
Commemorates the day on which Ho Chi Minh established the party in 1930.

Tay Son Festival (early February)
The festival is celebrated in Tay Son District, Binh Dinh Province, marking the 18th century Tay Son Rebellion, this week-long revelry features elephant parades, a drumming competition, and martial arts performances.

Yen Tu Festival(mid February - end April), Yen Tu mountain, honors the founding of the Truc Lam Buddhist sect. pilgrims climb to the summit to burn incense and meditate at the pagodas here.

Lim Festival (mid-February), Lim village, Bac Ninh Province. Celebrated 14 days after Tet, this festival is best known for its Quan Ho folk songs. Clad in ethnic garb, both men and women sing improvised lyrics to each other, often in the form of witty repartee. Also features wrestling matches and weaving competitions.

Perfume Pagoda Festival (February - May)
Perfume Pagoda, the scenic surrounds are said to be the Buddha’s heaven. Thousands of pilgrims visit the pagoda to celebrate this three-month-long religious festival.

2nd Lunar Month
Hai Ba Trung Festival (early March), Den Hai Ba Trung or Hai Ba Trung Temple is in Hanoi. Honors the heroic Trung Sisters. A procession takes their statues from the temple to the Red River for a ceremonial bath.

Ba Chua Kho Temple Festival (March), Ba Chua Kho Temple, Co Me, Bac Ninh Province. Worshippers congregate at the temple to petition Lady Chua Kho for good fortune and borrow money from her in a symbolic ritual.

3rd Lunar Month
Thay Pagoda Festival (5 - 7 April), Thay Pagoda, Ha Tay Province. People gather to worship the patron saint of water puppets, Tu Dao Hanh, who is said to have become Buddhist at Thay Pagoda. Celebrated two days, several water puppet shows are staged to mark the occasion.

Hon Chen Festival (early April), Hon Chen Temple, Hue. Based on an old Cham festival, this biannual event, held in the third and seventh lunar months, pay tribute to the Goddess Thien Y A Na. This colorful event features a procession of boats on the Perfume River, as well as the staging of traditional tableaus.

Thanh Minh (early April). Dedicated to departed souls, this festival is observed all cross Vietnam. Offerings are made to the spirits of the deceased, and ancestral graves are repaired and cleaned properly.

Hung King’s Temple Festival (April), Hung king’s Temple is in Phu Tho Province. This three-day festival honors the Hung Kings and the celebrations include gaily colored parades that take place around the temples, various cultural events such as classical opera at Den Ha and Xoan song performances are held at Den Thuong.

Liberation Day (April 30th) celebrates the fall of Saigon to communist forces on 30 April, 1975.

Summer (May - July)
With the summer solstice celebrated in early June, this primarily hot and wet season is when the country observes some of its most important holidays.

4th Lunar Month

Labor Day (May 1. Legions of workers parade through cities to mark their solidarity with working people through out the world.

Ho Chi Minh’s Birthday (May 19th). Supposedly a secular public holiday, this day has become something of a quasi-spiritual events as Ho Chi Minh achieves the statues of a deified hero in Vietnam.

The Buddha’s Birthday (May 28th). Also known as Le Phat Dan. Lanterns are hung outside pagodas and homes to celebrate the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and death.

Tra Co Village Festival (May 30th -June 7th), Hai Ninh District, Quang Ninh Province. Held in far northeast Vietnam, this rural festival highlights events such as pig-breeding and cooking contest, traditional games, and dancing.

5th Lunar Month
Tet Doan Ngo (early June). Also known as the “Killing the Inner Insect Festival”, Tet Doan Ngo signals the summer solstice. This Taoist festival falls at the hottest time of the year, when fevers caused by insects are at their peak. To ensure good health and well-being, offerings are made to the God of Death.

Chem Temple Festival (mid-June), Thuy Phuong village, Tu Liem District, Hanoi. Held in honor of Ly Ong Trong, a great 3rd-century warrior, this festival features elaborate ceremonies such as a dragon-boat race, the releasing of pigeons, and a ritualized washing of the temple’s statues.

6th Lunar Month
Dat Xa Village Festival (July 9th – 10th), Tam Nong District, Phu Tho Province. Hosted to the honor General Ly Thuong kiet’s victory over the Chinese in AD 1075. The festivities include boat racing on the Song Da or Black River.

Autumn (August - October)
While the south remains hot and wet, the north becomes coolers and pleasant. As the leaves change color, autumn is a good time to the follow the festivals in the north.

7th Lunar Month
Trung Nguyen (mid-August), the most important festival after Tet Festival, the Taoist Trung Nguyen also has a Buddhist equivalent, Vu Lan, which takes place during the same time. It is believed that lost spirits leave hell on this day to wander the earth. Paper money is burnt to placate these tortured souls.

8th Lunar Month
National Day (September 2nd). Marks Ho Chi Minh’s 1945 proclamation of the Declaration of Independence. In Hanoi, the day is celebrated with lively parades in Ba Dinh Square.

Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival (early September), Do Son, Hai Phong Province. A procession of six specially trained buffaloes are ceremoniously led into the arena, and paired off to fight each other. A winner is declared when one of the buffalos runs away. It is a short respite, as at the end of the day, the animals are slaughtered and eaten.

Trung Thu or Mid-Autumn Festival (mid-September). Also known as the Children’s Moon Festival, Trung Thu is a colorful affair, with much revelry and excitement all around. Children are given new toys and festive masks, and are treated to freshly baked moon cakes. Lanterns processions, games, and martial arts demonstrations are all part of the festivities.

Cham New Year Festival (September - October), Po Klong Garai Towner, Phan Rang – Thap Cham. Also known as Kate, this ten-day festival follows the Cham calendar, and is the most important celebration for the Hindu Cham minority. Droves pf devotees in beautiful colorful processions, along with the traditional musicians, make their way up to the towers to pay homage to the Cham deities, rulers, and revered national heroes.

9th Lunar Month
Keo Pagoda Festival (mid-October), Vu Nhat village, Thai Binh province. The anniversary of the death of Buddhist monk Duong Khong Lo is noted amid much fanfare over three days. A lavish procession, boat races, and religious rituals are prominent events. Cooking and duck catching competitions, and a trumpet and drum contest add levity to the festivities.

Confucius’ Birthday (late October or early November). Confucianism, as a system of state administration, may have disappeared under the communist regime, but Confucius is till venerated. The date has been declared Teacher’s Day, and the sage is offered incense and prayers in many temples.

Winter (November - January)
By now it is cold and rainy in the north, the traditional Viet homeland where most festivals originated, so there are fewer celebrations during this season.
10th Lunar Month

Oc Om Boc Festival and Ngu Boat Races (mid - November), Soc Trang. This Khmer festival is dedicated to the moon. Villagers deposit trays of rice, bananas, and coconuts in temples in the hope of abundant crops and plentiful fish. The main event has series of Ngu and canoe races, with competitors from Vietnam and Cambodia. Each boat is carved from a single tree.

11th Lunar Month
Dalat Flower Festival (December 10th – 18th). Held by the shores of Xuan Huong Lake, this festival showcases the many beautiful species of flowers that thrive in the cool uplands around Dalat. Along with the array of flowers, there is music and dancing, as well as displays of colored lanterns.

Trung Do Festival (late December), this festival honors the Viet petriot Ly Bon who led a successful revolt against the Chinese in AD 542, later proclaiming himself as the Emperor Ly Nam De. Traditional ball games known as Phet are played during the boisterous celebrations.

Christmas (December 25th)
Although predominantly a Buddhist Country, Vietnam has a large Christian community as well. As such, Christmas is celebrated with enthusiasm, especially in the big cities where streets and stores are decorated with lights, fake snow, shiny baubles, and ornaments.

12th Lunar Month

New Year’s Day (January 1st)
No special events are associated with this recent addition from the Western calendar, but this day is officially recognized as a public holiday, and its status is gaining recognition. Still, it is nowhere close to attaining Tet’s status.