Vietnam’s calendar is packed with festivals, public holidays, and cultural celebrations — from the nationwide shutdown of Tet to intimate Buddhist pilgrimages that draw hundreds of thousands of devoted visitors. Understanding the rhythm of Vietnam’s festive year helps you plan smarter, avoid surprises, and — if you time it right — witness some of the most extraordinary cultural experiences in Southeast Asia.
This guide covers every major Vietnamese festival and holiday, what to expect, and how each one affects your travels.
Tet: Vietnamese New Year (Late January – February)
Tet Nguyen Dan — Vietnamese New Year — is the single most important event on the Vietnamese calendar. Everything stops. Families travel from cities back to their home villages. Streets that are normally chaotic go quiet. Shops close. Transport fills up weeks in advance.
In the weeks before Tet, markets overflow with peach blossoms (in the north), apricot blossoms (in the south), and kumquat trees — all traditional symbols of luck and prosperity. Homes are cleaned from top to bottom, debts are settled, and special foods are prepared: banh chung (sticky rice cakes stuffed with pork and mung bean) in the north, banh tet in the south.
On Tet Eve, families gather for a feast and set off firecrackers at midnight. The following days are for visiting relatives, paying respects to ancestors, and giving lucky money in red envelopes to children and elders.
For travelers: Book accommodation and transport at least two months ahead if you plan to be in Vietnam during Tet. Expect many restaurants and businesses to close for up to a week. If you’re flexible, Hoi An and Hanoi’s Old Quarter put on beautiful decorations — it can be a magical time to visit, just plan around closures.
Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day (April)
A national public holiday commemorating the legendary Hung Kings — considered the founding fathers of the Vietnamese nation. The main ceremony takes place at the Hung Kings Temple in Phu Tho Province, drawing millions of pilgrims who climb the mountain to pay their respects. It’s one of the most deeply felt national observances in the country.
For travelers: If you’re in the north in late April, consider making the trip to Phu Tho. The atmosphere of mass pilgrimage is unlike anything else in Vietnam.
Reunification Day and Labour Day (April 30 – May 1)
April 30 marks the anniversary of the fall of Saigon in 1975 — the event that ended the Vietnam War and reunified the country. May 1 is International Labour Day. Together they create a four-day national holiday that sends Vietnamese families to the beach in their millions.
Ho Chi Minh City sees the largest celebrations, with fireworks, parades, and public concerts. For travelers, it’s an excellent time to experience Vietnamese domestic tourism at full volume — or a good time to avoid popular destinations if you prefer quiet.
Perfume Pagoda Festival (February – May)
One of Vietnam’s most significant Buddhist festivals, held over three months at the Perfume Pagoda complex about 60km south of Hanoi. Pilgrims travel by rowboat along the Yen Stream through a valley of limestone karst scenery, then climb stone steps through forest to a cave pagoda carved into the mountainside.
The festival is officially largest in February and March, when tens of thousands of pilgrims make the journey each day. The combination of the boat journey, mountain scenery, and spiritual atmosphere makes this one of the most visually spectacular religious events in the country.
Mid-Autumn Festival (September)
Tet Trung Thu — the Mid-Autumn Festival — celebrates the largest full moon of the year. It’s primarily a children’s festival: kids carry handmade paper lanterns through the streets in processions, lion dances perform in neighbourhoods, and moon cakes (banh trung thu) are exchanged as gifts.
The best places to experience it are Hoi An’s ancient town, Hanoi’s Hang Ma Street, and the Cho Lon district of Ho Chi Minh City. Hoi An in particular turns off its electric lights and fills the streets with paper lanterns — it’s genuinely one of the most beautiful nights in Vietnam.
For travelers: Hoi An during the Mid-Autumn Festival is worth planning around. Book early — this period fills up fast.
Yen Tu Festival (February – April)
Held at Yen Tu Mountain in Quang Ninh Province, this is one of Vietnam’s most important Buddhist pilgrimage events. The mountain is considered sacred — it’s where King Tran Nhan Tong abdicated his throne to become a Buddhist monk in the 13th century, establishing the Truc Lam school of Vietnamese Buddhism.
Pilgrims trek or take a cable car to the summit, stopping at dozens of pagodas and temples along the way. Dragon dances, incense ceremonies, and chanting echo through the mountain forests. The festival runs for roughly three months but is most concentrated in February.
Lim Festival, Bac Ninh (February)
The Lim Festival in Bac Ninh Province celebrates Quan Ho — a unique form of Vietnamese folk singing recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Performers in traditional costume sing antiphonal love songs across decorated boats on a lotus pond, while other events include tug-of-war, human chess, and wrestling.
It’s one of the most authentic living folk traditions in Vietnam, largely free from the commercialisation that affects similar events elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
Doan Ngo Festival – Insect-Killing Day (June)
Falling on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Doan Ngo is one of Vietnam’s stranger celebrations. Rooted in ancient practices for preventing disease and pest infestations, the festival involves eating particular foods believed to kill parasites and ward off illness: fermented sticky rice wine (ruou nep), plums, lychees, and banh tro (ash cakes).
The name “insect-killing festival” reflects its agrarian origins — it traditionally marked the start of the rice-growing season’s most pest-prone period. Today it’s observed as a folk tradition and a chance to eat specific seasonal foods.
Vu Lan – Hungry Ghost Festival (August)
Vu Lan (also called the Festival of Wandering Souls) is a Buddhist and folk observance held on the full moon of the seventh lunar month. Vietnamese families prepare elaborate offerings of food, incense, and paper goods for deceased ancestors and — in the folk tradition — for the spirits of people who died without descendants to honour them.
Temples hold special ceremonies, monks are invited to pray at family homes, and paper money and goods are burned as offerings. It’s a deeply felt occasion in Vietnamese family life — equal parts solemn and festive.
Vietnamese Independence Day (September 2)
On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh Square, proclaiming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The date is now a national holiday marked with parades, flag-raising ceremonies, and public events across the country. Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi is the centre of national celebrations.
Khmer Festivals in Southern Vietnam
Vietnam’s ethnic Khmer community — concentrated in the Mekong Delta provinces of Soc Trang, An Giang, and Tra Vinh — celebrates three major festivals that are largely unknown to foreign visitors but extraordinarily vibrant:
- Chol Chnam Thmay (Khmer New Year, April): Three days of temple visits, traditional food, and community celebrations marking the new agricultural year.
- Sene Dolta (October): The most important Khmer festival of the year — a three-day ancestor commemoration with bull-racing competitions at the Ba Chuc and Bay Nui areas of An Giang.
- Ooc Om Bok (November): Moon-worship festival with lantern boat races on rivers at night — one of the most visually spectacular events in the Mekong Delta.
If your itinerary takes you through the southern delta, timing a visit around one of these festivals is well worth the effort.
Practical Tips for Traveling During Vietnamese Festivals
- Book far ahead for Tet. Flights, trains, and hotels fill up 6–8 weeks before the holiday. Prices spike significantly.
- Carry cash during holidays. Many shops and ATMs run low during Tet. Stock up before the holiday begins.
- Respect temple etiquette. Dress modestly at pagodas and temples — cover shoulders and knees. Remove shoes where signs indicate.
- Expect crowds at Hoi An during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The town is beautiful but extremely busy. Book riverside accommodation months ahead.
- The April 30–May 1 holiday sends millions to the beach. Phu Quoc, Da Nang, and Nha Trang get packed. Either book well ahead or choose this as your time for inland cities.
- Buddhist festivals are generally welcoming to visitors, but approach with respectful curiosity rather than as a photography spectacle.