The Autumn Festival in Vietnam, called Tet Trung Thu or the Mid-Autumn (Full Moon) Festival, falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, which was Friday 25 September in 2026 and will be around 15 September in 2027, and it is celebrated with mooncakes, lantern parades and lion dances, especially for children. It is not an official public holiday, so offices, shops and attractions stay open, while the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Ho Chi Minh City’s Chinatown and Hoi An fill with lanterns in the week before the full moon.
For Indian travellers, the festival often falls close to Navratri and a few weeks before Diwali, which makes a September or early October trip a chance to see 2 festival seasons in 1 holiday. This guide from Vietnamtour.in covers what the Autumn Festival in Vietnam is, its dates, how it is celebrated, the best places to see it and tips for visitors from India.
The Autumn Festival in Vietnam at a glance:
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vietnamese name | Tet Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival, Full Moon Festival) |
| Date | 15th day of the 8th lunar month |
| 2026 date | Friday, 25 September 2026 |
| 2027 date | Around 15 September 2027 |
| Public holiday | No; celebrations run in the evenings |
| Main traditions | Mooncakes, lanterns, lion dances, moon-watching |
| Best places | Hang Ma Street in Hanoi, Cholon in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An |
The lantern streets are busiest in the 7–10 days before the full moon, so arriving a week early gives the most to see.
Overview of the Autumn Festival in Vietnam
The Autumn Festival in Vietnam is a full-moon celebration of the harvest and of family reunion, and in Vietnam it is above all a festival for children, with lanterns, toys, sweets and parades. Families gather to share mooncakes, tea and fruit, children carry lanterns through the streets, and lion dance troupes perform in neighbourhoods and shopping streets. The full moon of the 8th lunar month is believed to be the brightest of the year, a symbol of completeness and togetherness.
In the cities, malls, hotels and parks host large lantern displays and mooncake fairs, while villages keep simpler traditions such as a family feast and a children’s lantern walk. For Indian visitors, the moon-watching tradition feels familiar, as Sharad Purnima, the bright autumn full moon in India, falls in a similar season.
When is the Autumn Festival in Vietnam?
The Autumn Festival in Vietnam is on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, which falls between mid-September and early October: Friday 25 September in 2026 and around 15 September in 2027. The main celebration is on the night of the full moon, and lantern streets, school parties and community events start about a week before. Because the date follows the lunar calendar, it changes every year, so the date for the travel year is worth checking before booking.
The weather at festival time differs by region: the north is warm and starting to dry out, while the central coast enters its rainy season.
How is the Autumn Festival celebrated?
The Autumn Festival in Vietnam is celebrated with 3 main traditions: sharing mooncakes, carrying lanterns, and watching lion and dragon dances, along with offerings of fruit and incense to ancestors and an evening of moon-watching with family.
Mooncakes
Mooncakes are the most iconic food of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam, round pastries filled with lotus seeds, mung beans, nuts, fruit or sometimes salted egg yolk and meat, symbolising reunion and gratitude. The 2 main types are banh nuong, a baked mooncake, and banh deo, a soft sticky-rice mooncake, and they are sold by bakeries, supermarkets, hotels and street stalls from about a month before the festival.
Many mooncakes contain salted egg yolk or lard, so vegetarian travellers look for “chay” (vegetarian) mooncakes with lotus seed, mung bean, taro or green tea fillings, which most bakeries sell. Mooncakes come in decorative gift boxes, and hotels and shopping centres hold mooncake fairs in the weeks before the full moon.
Lanterns
Lanterns are the second essential part of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam, made in shapes such as stars, fish, carp and butterflies, and carried by children in parades on the night of the full moon. They stand for hope and joy, and the 5-pointed star lantern is the most traditional design, carried in every neighbourhood parade. Children also play with masks, drums and paper toys sold alongside the lanterns.
Some towns hold lantern-making contests and displays, and many workshops let visitors make a simple lantern from paper or bamboo to take home.
Lion Dance
The lion dance is the main performance of Vietnam’s full moon festival, an acrobatic dance in lion costumes to drums and cymbals, believed to bring good luck and drive away bad fortune. Troupes perform in streets, shops and homes in the evenings before the full moon, and children follow them through the neighbourhood.
The dances are easy to watch from the pavement, and the drumming can be loud, so families with very young children usually watch from a little further back.
Best Destinations for the Autumn Festival in Vietnam
The best places to see the Autumn Festival in Vietnam are Hanoi’s Old Quarter around Hang Ma Street, Ho Chi Minh City’s Chinatown around Luong Nhu Hoc Street, and Hoi An’s ancient town on the Thu Bon River.
Hanoi
Hanoi’s Old Quarter is the most traditional place for the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam, with Hang Ma Street lined with lanterns, masks and toys for about 2 weeks before the full moon. Lion dances, folk games and mooncake stalls fill the streets around Hoan Kiem Lake, which is closed to traffic on weekend evenings.
Hang Ma is busiest in the evenings, so a weekday visit before 7:00 PM is easier with children.
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City’s main Autumn Festival spot is the lantern street of Luong Nhu Hoc in District 5 (Cholon), with lion and dragon dance troupes performing across Chinatown and around Thien Hau Temple. Nguyen Hue walking street and the city centre add parades and lantern displays, and Ben Thanh Market sells lanterns and mooncakes.
Cholon’s temples, including Thien Hau Temple and Nghia An Assembly Hall, are busiest on the festival night itself.
Hoi An
Hoi An is the most atmospheric place for the Vietnam moon festival, as the town’s monthly full-moon lantern night falls on the same week, with lanterns along the streets and floating candles on the Thu Bon River. Visitors can take a boat on the river to release a paper lantern and make a wish.
September and October are the start of the rainy season on the central coast, and the guide to October weather in Vietnam explains how it affects a Hoi An visit.
Tips for Foreigners To Enjoy The Autumn Festival In Vietnam
The most useful tips for the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam are to arrive a week before the full moon, try vegetarian mooncakes, visit the lantern streets early in the evening, and respect the lion dance troupes and temple rituals. The tips that matter most are:
- Arrive 5–7 days before the full moon, when the lantern streets are at their busiest and most colourful.
- Ask for “banh trung thu chay” for vegetarian mooncakes, and check for egg yolk or lard in the filling.
- Buy a lantern or mask as a souvenir, or join a lantern-making workshop.
- Keep a respectful distance from the lion and dragon dancers, and do not touch the costumes.
- Watch bags and phones in the crowds on Hang Ma Street and in Cholon.
The festival season leads straight into the Indian festival calendar, and travellers who extend into the autumn can compare Diwali tour packages and the weather in Vietnam in November, when the north and south are dry.
Plan Your Trip for the Autumn Festival in Vietnam
The Autumn Festival in Vietnam is best seen on a 6–8 day trip timed to arrive a week before the full moon, with Hanoi’s Old Quarter for tradition and Hoi An or Ho Chi Minh City for lanterns and lion dances. Vietnamtour.in has planned Vietnam trips for more than 428,000 Indian travellers since 2015, and every itinerary can be timed to the festival date, with vegetarian or Jain meals and mooncakes arranged in advance. Departures run from cities such as Bangalore and Kochi, with a trip to Vietnam from Bangalore or a Vietnam tour package from Kochi, and families and friends travelling together can compare the Vietnam group tour packages.
The weather in each region at festival time is set out in the guide to September in Vietnam. Travellers who want a beach after the festival can add a Vietnam Phu Quoc tour package, and the full range of routes is listed with the Vietnam tour packages. To plan your trip around the festival, share the travel dates, group size and departure city in the form below, and a Vietnamtour.in expert will time the route to the lantern streets, lion dances and full-moon night of the Autumn Festival in Vietnam.
