Almost every article you read about the Hoi An lantern festival quietly leaves you with the wrong idea: that it is a once a year event you have to plan a whole trip around. It is not. The festival falls on the 14th day of every lunar month, the night before each full moon, which means it happens roughly once a month, twelve or thirteen times a year. If you are spending a few nights in central Vietnam, there is a decent chance one lands inside your dates already.
It also is not staged for tourists. The 14th night is a Buddhist full moon observance, and for a lot of local families the evening starts at a home altar or a pagoda long before anyone walks down to the water. Visitors are welcome, and the town leans into it, but the thing underneath is a religious calendar that was running long before the tour buses showed up.
What the Hoi An Lantern Festival actually is
On the 14th of the lunar month, the old town switches off its electric street lighting and shop signage and lights silk lanterns instead. Households and businesses put out offerings, families visit pagodas and assembly halls, and people float small candle lanterns on the Thu Bon river. Locals call it the full moon night rather than a festival, and you will see it written as the Hoi An full moon festival too.
The town has organized it as a regular monthly evening since the late 1990s, when Hoi An began protecting and promoting its old quarter. So it is part civic program, part living custom. Both things are true at once, and the mix is what makes a Hoi An lantern night feel different from a light show.
Hoi An lantern night at a glance
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| When | The 14th day of every lunar month, the night before the full moon |
| How often | Roughly monthly, so 12 or 13 nights a year |
| Where | Hoi An old town and both banks of the Thu Bon river, central Vietnam |
| What time | Vehicles cleared around 5:30 pm, lights dimmed from about 6:00 pm, main hours until about 10:00 pm |
| Ticket needed | No ticket to walk the streets; the old town ticket covers heritage houses and assembly halls |
| How long to allow | Three to four hours, arriving before dark |
| Best months | February to May, when central Vietnam is driest |
What happens on the night
Things start slowly. From late afternoon motorbikes and cars are cleared out of the old quarter, and by around six the electric lighting goes down. The silk lanterns strung across Tran Phu, Nguyen Thai Hoc and Bach Dang do the rest of the work, and the whole place drops a couple of stops darker than a normal evening.
Through the evening you will find traditional music on the riverside stage, bai choi, which is a sung folk game played between two rows of bamboo huts, calligraphers working in the assembly halls, and unicorn dancers moving between shops. Altars appear on doorsteps with fruit, flowers and incense. The candle lanterns on the river peak somewhere between seven and nine, then the crowd thins fast after ten.
Worth remembering while you walk around: for many residents this is a day of observance rather than a night out. The 14th and 15th of the lunar month are when people burn incense, make offerings for ancestors and often eat vegetarian. Assembly halls and pagodas stay open and welcome visitors, so go in, but keep your voice down, cover shoulders and knees, and ask before you photograph someone at prayer. Nobody minds a camera; people do mind being treated as scenery.
How to work out the date for your own trip
This is the question people actually search, so here is the method rather than a list that goes stale. The lunar month begins on a new moon, and the festival is on day 14 of that month. In practice, that lands about one day before the astronomical full moon, and it drifts across the Gregorian calendar by roughly eleven days earlier each year.
- Look up the full moon dates for your travel month in any astronomy calendar or phone weather app.
- Take the day before it. That is almost always the 14th of the lunar month.
- Cross check against a Vietnamese lunar calendar converter, searching for am lich, and confirm the day number reads 14.
- Confirm with your accommodation in Hoi An a week or two out, because the town occasionally shifts the program for weather or a public holiday.
If you want a shortcut when is the Hoi An lantern festival answer: check the full moon, then subtract a day.
Where to stand for a good view
The single most photographed spot is the Japanese Covered Bridge, and it is also the most crowded. The An Hoi footbridge over the Thu Bon gives you the classic view back at the lantern boats, but you will be shoulder to shoulder on it for most of the evening.
Better options: walk the An Hoi side of the river, opposite the old town, where the crowd thins and you are looking at the lit facades rather than standing in them. Or get up onto a first floor cafe balcony on Bach Dang and stay put. Arriving by about 5:30 pm and finding your spot beats arriving at 7:30 pm and fighting for one. Be honest with yourself about the crowds, especially on a weekend night: this is a small old town and it fills up.
The floating lanterns, honestly
Releasing a small candle lantern on the river is the part everyone pictures. It is worth knowing that thousands go in over a few hours and most of them end up as paper and wax in the water or washed up downstream. Local clean up crews and volunteer groups collect them, and there has been a real push toward biodegradable materials, but the litter is visible.
Plenty of travelers still float one, and plenty choose not to and just watch. Both are fine. If you do release one, buy from a vendor using paper and a plain candle rather than plastic, and put it in from a low step rather than throwing it.
The two nights that are much bigger than the rest
Two full moon nights are on a completely different scale from an ordinary 14th. The first is around Tet, the Lunar New Year, when the whole country is celebrating and Hoi An is at its most decorated. The second is the mid autumn festival on the eighth lunar month, which is a children's festival in Vietnam, with lion and unicorn dance troupes going door to door for days.
If either falls in your window, expect much bigger crowds, higher demand for rooms and a genuinely better atmosphere. Book early. If you want a calmer evening, pick an ordinary month instead.
Getting there and where to base yourself
Hoi An has no airport. You fly into Da Nang and drive about 45 minutes south, roughly 30 kilometers. Since Vietnam's 2025 provincial reorganization, Hoi An sits administratively within Da Nang city rather than the former Quang Nam province. Nothing about this changes your trip: same roads, same airport, same town, same visa rules. Older hotel addresses may still say Quang Nam, which is fine.
You can stay in Hoi An itself, which is best if the festival is your priority, or base in Da Nang and come across for the evening. Our guide to things to do in Da Nang covers that side. Hoi An also fits neatly into a wider loop if you are mapping out the best places to visit in Vietnam, and most of our Vietnam tour packages can be arranged around a lantern night if you tell us your dates early. The Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Da Nang tour is the usual starting point for a first visit.
When not to go
Central Vietnam's wet season runs roughly September to December, and that window overlaps with typhoon activity in the East Sea. October and November are the peak flood months, and Hoi An's old town genuinely floods in some years, with water in the ground floors along Bach Dang and boats moving down the streets.
The festival can be scaled back or cancelled when that happens. If your trip is fixed for those months, keep the plan flexible and watch the forecast. February to May is the safe, dry window.
Entry paperwork
Most nationalities can enter Vietnam on an e-visa, currently valid for stays of up to 90 days and available in single or multiple entry form, applied for online before you fly. A number of nationalities also get visa free entry for a set number of days, so check whether you need one at all. Apply only through the official government portal at evisa.gov.vn, and enter the same arrival airport you will actually use. Rules change, so verify close to your travel date.
A short checklist for lantern night
- Be in the old town by 5:30 pm and eat early; restaurants fill up.
- Carry the old town ticket if you want to enter heritage houses and assembly halls.
- Wear covered shoulders and knees if you plan to go inside a pagoda or assembly hall.
- Ask before photographing people at an altar or making an offering.
- Bring a little cash, walkable shoes and patience for the crowd.
- Turn your phone flash off; the whole point is the dark.
Frequently asked questions about the Hoi An Lantern Festival
Is the Hoi An Lantern Festival really monthly?
Yes. It is held on the 14th day of every lunar month, the night before the full moon, so it happens about 12 or 13 times a year. Most articles describe it as annual, which is wrong.
What time does the festival start and finish?
Vehicles are cleared from the old town at about 5:30 pm, the electric lighting goes down from roughly 6:00 pm, and the main evening runs until about 10:00 pm. The river lanterns peak between 7:00 and 9:00 pm.
Do I need the Hoi An old town ticket to attend?
No ticket is needed to walk the streets and watch. The old town ticket covers entry to the heritage houses, museums and assembly halls, and the pedestrian only hours on festival nights start earlier and cover more of the core than usual.
Should I release a floating lantern on the Thu Bon river?
It is your call. Thousands are released each festival night and much of the paper and wax ends up in the river, so some travelers choose to watch instead. If you do release one, pick a paper lantern rather than a plastic one.
Which lantern nights are the biggest?
The full moon nights around Tet, the Lunar New Year, and the mid autumn festival in the eighth lunar month are far larger than an ordinary 14th night. Expect heavier crowds and book accommodation well ahead.
Is Hoi An now part of Da Nang?
Administratively yes, since Vietnam's 2025 provincial reorganization merged the former Quang Nam province into Da Nang city. For a visitor nothing changes: the same town, the same drive from Da Nang airport, the same entry rules.
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