Events and festivals in Vietnam

January

• Dalat Flower Festival: This festival includes cultural, artistic and commercial events like parades of flower floats, flower arrangements, music, and wine festivals.
• Tet Nguyen Dan: Lunar New Year is the most important holiday for the Vietnamese. It’s an opportunity to see family.

February

• Dong Da Festival: wrestling competition, lion dances and human chess games are held in Hanoi on the 5th day of the first lunar month
• Perfume Pagoda Festival: Pilgrims from all over the country come to Perfume Pagoda to pray to Buddha, and pray for a prosperous year. This festival takes place on the 15th day of the first lunar month, in Huong Son district, 70 km from Hanoi.

March

• Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival: coffee lovers meet in the central highlands for this annual festival.
• Saigon Cyclo Race: Ho Chi Minh City's fastest cyclo drivers compete in their three-wheeled vehicles to raise funds for charities

April

• Danang International Fireworks Competition: During the last week of the month teams from China, Europe and Vietnam compete in fireworks and music.
• Hue Festival: This important cultural event occurs every two years. Theater, music, festivities take place in the citadel.
• Commemoration of the Hung kings: This holiday honors the Hung Kings who founded Vietnam and celebrates Vietnamese culture and history. It is held on the 10th day of the third lunar month in the province of Phu Tho (100 km from Hanoi).

May

• Birth, awakening and death of the Buddha: Great feasts in Buddhist temples. Processions enliven the streets and lanterns decorate the pagodas.

June

• Sea Festival in Nha Trang: at the beginning of June every two years. It includes a street festival, photo exhibitions and sporting events.
• Summer Solstice (Tet Doan Ngo): On the 5th day of the 5th moon. Offerings to spirits, ghosts and the God of Death to keep epidemics away.

August

• Mid-Autumn Festival: locals celebrate the full moon by eating moon cakes. Lion dances and children’s parades take place in the streets to the sound of drums.

September

• National Day: on September 2. Celebrations take place across the country. In Hanoi, parades and festivities are organized in Ba Dinh Square.
• Do Son buffalo fighting festival: This unusual festival takes place in the 8th month of the lunar calendar in Do Son, Haiphong. The buffaloes engage in elimination battles until a winner is declared. Locals get involved and often have a favorite animal that they cheer for. Preparations take months and the event is celebrated with parades, drums and dancing.

December

• Christmas: It is not a public holiday, but it is celebrated all over the country, especially by Catholics. Visit Phat Diem or Ho Chi Minh City to join thousands of the faithful at midnight mass.