Hoi An Lantern Festival Guide & Dates

Between the colorful Hoi An lantern festival held every month and the local favorite dish Cao Lau, it’s debatable which put this little town on the tourist map. The lantern festival has become popular enough that even if your visit isn’t on the full moon date you can still participate in the Hoi An traditional full moon festival just about any night.

Lanterns are lit every night after the sun has sunk in Hoi An. Candles are placed at the bottom of the colorful paper lanterns. The Hoi An lantern festival is a gorgeous tradition.

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Hoi An at night on the full moon during the lantern festival - river front

The lanterns are set into the river as an offering and to worship their ancestors as well as the God of the land. This tradition started centuries ago, where on the full moon people from all over the region would come to participate.

A single yellow lantern floats down the river during the Hoi An Lantern Festival

The practice is still alive today and at 8 pm on the eve of the full moon the lights of the town are shut off, and the only light comes from the lanterns being carried down the river.

Hoi An Lantern Festival dates for 2019, 2020, 2021
Year	Month	Hoi An Lantern Festival Date
2019	November	November 10th, 2019
2019	December	December 9th, 2019
2020	January	January 8th, 2020
2020	February	February 7th, 2020
2020	March	March 7th, 2020
2020	April	April 6th, 2020
2020	May	May 6th, 2020
2020	June	June 5th, 2020
2020	July	July 4th, 2020
2020	August	August 3rd, 2020
2020	September	September 1st, 2020
2020	October	October 30th, 2020
2020	November	November 28th, 2020
2020	December	December 28th, 2020
2021	January	January 26th, 2021
2021	February	February 25th, 2021
2021	March	March 26th, 2021
2021	April	April 25th, 2021
2021	May	May 25th, 2021
2021	June	June 23rd, 2021
2021	July	July 23rd, 2021
2021	August	August 21st, 2021
2021	September	September 20th, 2021
2021	October	October 19th, 2021
2021	November	November 18th, 2021
2021	December	December 17th, 2021
2022	January	January 16th, 2022
2022	February	February 14th, 2022
2022	March	March 16th, 2022
2022	April	April 14th, 2022
2022	May	May 14th, 2022

Things to know about the Hoi An Lantern festival

As beautiful as it was to see, I had visions in my head that the river would be full from bank to bank with colorful light, but it wasn’t. It seems that it has been turned into somewhat of a tourist attraction and the only lanterns afloat were the ones launched by tourist paying to simulate the tradition.

A group of colorful lanterns float down the river in Hoi An during the full moon lantern festival

We timed our trip to coincide with a full moon, but the largest event is the first full moon of the lunar new year. We were there during the 2nd full moon of the year and to be honest, it wasn’t that much different than a normal night in Hoi An.

I guess I wouldn’t go out of my way to get there during the full moon again (except for maybe the first one), but if you happen to be there it’s pretty to see the town less light up, and a few more lanterns than usual.

A young vietnamese boy sits at the river bank selling lanterns for the Hoi an full moon lantern festival

Hoi An, Vietnam is a beautiful city no matter what the stage the moon is in: Great food, culture, and just a charming town.

Should You Light A Lantern at the Hoi An Lantern Festival?

How could you go all the way to Hoi An and not put a lantern in the river during the lantern festival Hoi An?

Well, as pretty as it was, I just got to thinking where are all these lanterns going? Aren’t we just putting more trash into the sea?

A woman standing in front of a shop selling lanterns for the Hoi An Lantern festival

Sure there are way worse things going out there on a daily basis than some paper and a candle stub. However, it was more than just the littering, I saw no local people participating in the tradition, and it felt like it was only done for the tourists.

I hate things that exist solely for the purpose of tourism. I am sure at one time this was a beautiful event every full moon, but now lanterns are dunked in every night of the month just for the tourists watch, and something about that feels wrong.

Now, Hoi An was our favorite town in all of Vietnam and the experience with the lanterns didn’t wreck it, but just made us think what kind of impact we are having on the world when we travel.

A man sits in front of his shop selling lanterns of the date of the Hoi An lantern festival that falls on the full moon

Hopefully, there is a smart little business lady waiting at the end of the river to collect and reuse these lanterns, but I am not sure of that. If there isn’t, there should be, she would be rich!

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