Description: Coming to Hoi An ancient town, tourists will not only be amazed by the uniqueness in every corner here, but you will also be interested in many amazing traditional festivals, notably the Hoi An Lantern Festival – also called Hoi An full moon festival.
1. The history of the lanterns
Hoi An Ancient Town is a picturesque place of Quang Nam province. Hoi An has become a world cultural heritage because of its preserved cultural values until today through ancient buildings, streets, and pagodas with the constructive interference between Eastern culture and Western culture. This old town has a long-standing history, distinctive culture, and many traditional customs & festival.
Hoi An people said that the lantern-making ancestor named Xa Duong. At that time, he was who specialized in making lanterns for night festivals or competitions, as a trophy lantern. On Tet holidays or celebrations, only rich people in Hoi An have a big lamp to write Chinese characters or draw paintings to hang in front of the house.
It took a few generations for lanterns to reach every house in Hoi An ancient town with a common decoration feature that still retains its glamorous and luxurious beauty. Every summer festival, people make lanterns to hang, first make them for decoration in the family, then for selling. Making lanterns has become a unique profession of Hoi An. Some people specialize in making big lantern used in hotels or hang in the solemn place.
And the first Hoi An Lantern Festival was held on 1998. During the past 15 years, every 14-day lunar month, Hoi An ancient town becomes more glamorous in the light of the lanterns. Every year, the locals hold the biggest Hoi An Lantern Festival on the occasion of traditional Tet holidays. People consider it as a characteristic in Hoi An’s culture.
2. When to visit Hoi An Ancient Town for the Hoi An Lantern Festival
If you set foot in Quang Nang province on the 14th day of the lunar month or the Mid – Autumn Festival or Tet holiday, you should stop by Hoi An ancient town to participate in the full moon festival here. The locals usually hold the Hoi An Lantern Festival in Hoi An old town on the 14th day of the lunar month and it becomes more beautiful, sparkling and magnificent on the Tet holiday and Mid – Autumn festival. On that day, Hoi An people will turn off all electric lights and hang many different colorful lanterns that illuminate the entire old town. That makes up a poetic and glamorous view in Hoi An ancient town. Tourists will be immersed in the beautiful and romantic scene here.
The festival usually starts from 6 p.m until around 9 – 10 p.m in the area between the Japanese Covered Bridge and the Cau An Hoi Bridge, which connects Hoi An with An Hoi, and spills onto the surrounding street and river banks with many interesting and exciting activities to attract people as well as domestic and foreign tourists. You ought to keep in mind the favorable time to fully come and enjoy the Hoi An full moon festival.
3. What does the Hoi An Lantern Festival have for you?
Taking part in the Hoi An full moon festival, visitors will have the chance to experience many exciting activities here.
Walking along the colorful lanterns street
The rows of old houses lit up one the two sides of the Hoai River. Japanese temple is also shimmering in the night. On the river, giant paper-made animals appear brightly lit, large and small lanterns light the beautiful little bridge. Tourists are very crowded in this area with gentle and romantic feelings. Along the streets, electric light became submerged by the colors of lanterns on wooden doors. The people of Hoi An love the products of their hometown to the extent that lanterns light each lamp with signs and decorative lights. There are even shops that turn off standard electric lights, only using colorful lanterns to illuminate objects.
Flower lanterns are simple but beautiful. And when wandering across the river, you will be amazed at the street selling lanterns. With about ten shops, thousands of lanterns of all shapes and colors make you thoroughly enchanted. Hoi An people are hospitable and friendly. Small items are very affordable, such as miniature lights of 5,000 VND / item, more significant lights costs from 15,000-50,000 VND / item. Especially for those who are a fan of taking photos, it is an excellent space for them to have unforgettable moments.
Hoi An city is quiet, though it is a festival with a massive number of tourists as everything is moving very gently, relaxedly and safely. Perhaps because of such a rhythm of life, all activities stopped at 11 p.m. In the festival area at midnight, all shimmering lights give a room for the dim lights and some small food shop on the sidewalk. Therefore, to end up an exciting night in Hoi An, you can visit a Hoi An bar, have your favorite drinks and chat with friends.
Dropping the lantern in Hoai Cau River
In the daytime, the Hoai River in Hoi An is characterized by the image of paddles floating backward, peaceful space. Hoi An at night is so bustling, gorgeous but sparkling, romantic to incredible, which attract people by a different area. Contributing a large part of that space is the festival of dropping flower lights on Hoai River.
An exciting activity that tourists should enjoy during the festival is dropping the lantern in Hoai Cau River. Each of the bright flower lanterns symbolizes a wish of the person who falls the paper lanterns. In Buddhism, losing flower lanterns in Hoi An means praying for the deceased, their souls relying on warm light to liberate from all suffering.
Dropping flower lanterns from the shore has been an exciting experience for visitors when coming to Hoi An at night. However, losing flower lanterns from the boat floating on the river is a double-interesting experience that you will not be able to find in another tourism destination. Just step down to Bach Dang wharf, the boatmen with a gentle smile are waiting to take you on the Hoai River. It’s your moments to watch the panorama of the ancient town shimmering in the night, breathe the fresh air from the sea, listen to fascinating stories about Hoi An from the boatmen and drop the flower lanterns on the romantic Hoai River.
Separating from the bustling street of Hoi An at night, you will feel more peaceful when sitting on the boat, watching the flower lanterns floating on the river. These lighting flower lanterns creates beautiful and iridescent streaks of light on the poetic Hoai River. Just that charming is enough for Hoi An to bind your foot and make you never forget about it.
Playing around the bustling streets
Furthermore, many unusual activities make the old town are more bustling. For example, the locals organize many music performance activities, chess competitions, folk games, play card games make the Hoi An Lantern Festival more interesting. Moreover, in the Mid-Autumn festival or tet holiday, this festival is more sparkling and vibrant. Travelers will get interested in many cultural activities such as masquerade dances, lion dance, folk singing, traditional music performance, regular Vietnamese martial performance and magic street performance, etc. You should participate in those and have the most beautiful experience here.
Visitors also can enjoy many attractive specialties of Quang Nam province in this unique festival. You can choose to enjoy delicious dishes such as Quang noodles, Phuong bread, Cao Lau in the small restaurants which locals sell along the side of the road. Or another better choice is that many corner shops along the Hoai river bank. Here, you can enjoy much tasty food & drinking, listen to folk singing, and admire the stunning Hoai river. That must be an enjoyable experience.
4. Some useful tips for newcomers to Hoi An Ancient town
How to get to Hoi An Ancient Town from Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh city
Situated in Quang Nam province, and this place does not have an airport. Therefore, If tourists choose to travel by plane, you will have to take a flights from Noi Bai international airport ( from Ha Noi ) or Tan Son Nhat international airport ( from Ho Chi Minh city ) and after taking off at Da Nang airport, you should hire a taxi or bus to get to Hoi An ancient town, because the distance between two places is just approximately 30 km. And the ticket price often fluctuates from $ 86 -$ 217, and it takes 1 hour and 30 minutes to get there. We highly recommend tourists book flights of Vietnam Airlines to experience the best flying service.
Many exciting destinations near Hoi An Ancient town
If tourists took part in this unique festival here, do not forget to stop by other famous attractions near here. Quang Nam province not only stands out with Hoi An ancient town but it is also renowned for many cultural relics and traditional craft village, especially My Son holy land- the world cultural heritages. Coming Hoi Quang Nam province, visitors can not forget to explore My Son holy land, travel to other particular traditional craft villages and participate in many exciting activities on the picturesque beaches & islands as well as enjoy the attractive cuisines here. The distance between these places is not too far; tourists should consider and make a suitable plan to have the perfect trip here.
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