Hoi An Lantern Festival
Dining under the lanterns: Hoi An's full-moon nights
📅 The 14th night of every lunar month — every month, all year
Once a lunar month, Hoi An switches off its electric lights and the Old Town runs on silk lanterns and candlelight. It is the most romantic dinner backdrop in Vietnam — and the busiest.
Lantern nights, the next 15
The festival falls on the 14th night of each lunar month, which is why it wanders through the Gregorian calendar. The next one is Thursday 24 September 2026, in 24 days. Riverside and balcony tables go days ahead — book when you book the room, not when you arrive.
| Date | Lunar | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 24 Sep 2026 | 8/14 | Eve of Tết Trung Thu, Mid-Autumn, Hoi An's own festival and the busiest night of the year |
| Fri 23 Oct 2026 | 9/14 | A weekend night, so busier again |
| Sun 22 Nov 2026 | 10/14 | |
| Tue 22 Dec 2026 | 11/14 | |
| Thu 21 Jan 2027 | 12/14 | |
| Fri 19 Feb 2027 | 1/14 | Eve of Rằm tháng Giêng, the first full moon after Tết and Hoi An's biggest lantern night; a weekend night, so busier again |
| Sun 21 Mar 2027 | 2/14 | |
| Tue 20 Apr 2027 | 3/14 | |
| Wed 19 May 2027 | 4/14 | Eve of Phật Đản, Vesak, when the pagodas float lotus lanterns |
| Fri 18 Jun 2027 | 5/14 | A weekend night, so busier again |
| Sat 17 Jul 2027 | 6/14 | A weekend night, so busier again |
| Sun 15 Aug 2027 | 7/14 | Eve of Vu Lan, the Wandering Souls festival, temple-heavy and very busy |
| Tue 14 Sep 2027 | 8/14 | Eve of Tết Trung Thu, Mid-Autumn, Hoi An's own festival and the busiest night of the year |
| Wed 13 Oct 2027 | 9/14 | |
| Thu 11 Nov 2027 | 10/14 |
Computed from the Vietnamese lunar calendar, not copied from another site — two widely-linked Hoi An pages have 2027 dates wrong. Hoi An occasionally moves or cancels a lantern night for weather or a public holiday, so if the whole trip hangs on one, confirm with your hotel in the week before.
What to eat
Cao lầu tastes better by candlelight — book a balcony table over Bach Dang street. White rose dumplings, bánh mì from the famous counters before they close, and chè sweet soup from the river vendors while the paper lanterns drift.
The plan (this is where people fail)
Balcony and riverside tables on lantern nights book out days ahead — reserve as soon as you know your dates (the festival follows the lunar calendar; any hotel can confirm the next one). An Hoi islet across the bridge is calmer than Bach Dang. The night market runs regardless.
Festival dates mean festival demand — the good tables and rooms go to whoever booked first.
Free download
The Hoi An Lantern Festival cheat sheet — one dense page
Dates, the must-eat list, booking deadlines and the areas that matter — printable, offline, free.
Download the cheat sheet (free)
Free download — no email needed.
When is the Hoi An lantern festival?
Every month on the 14th night of the lunar calendar, all year — so it moves through the Gregorian calendar. Every date for the next fifteen months is in the table above.
Do I need to book restaurants for lantern night?
For a balcony or river view, yes — days ahead. For everything else the Old Town is walk-in as usual, just busier.
What's special to eat that night?
The dishes are Hoi An's usual icons — cao lầu, white rose, mì quảng — but eaten by candlelight over a river of floating lanterns.
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