What's on in Hội An, Vietnam through the year

Busy — school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

• Festival

  Full moon lantern night

  1 Jan – 31 DecMajor festival

  On the 14th of each lunar month the old town switches off its electric lights from about six and runs on silk lanterns and candle floats on the Thu Bon. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Tet

  14–22 FebLunar New YearClosuresCrowded

  Family businesses in the old town shut for several days and the country travels. Prices rise, transport books out, and the lanterns are at their best. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Tet, Tết Nguyên đán break in Vietnam

• Season

  Dry season

  1 Feb – 30 Apr · usually

  The bright, dry, comfortable stretch on this coast: before the heat arrives in May and long after the floods have gone down.

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Tet (14–22 Feb)

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Dry season (1 Feb – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Beach season

  1 Apr – 31 Aug · usuallyMonsoon

  An Bang and Cua Dai work in the dry half of the year; the northeast monsoon takes the sand and the swimming away from October onwards.

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Dry season (1 Feb – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Beach season (1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually))

Busy — Summer break in Vietnam, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Beach season (1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually))

Busy — Summer break in Vietnam, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Beach season (1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually))

Busy — Summer break in Vietnam, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Beach season (1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually))

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, Summer break in Vietnam

• Hazard

  Typhoon season

  1 Sep – 30 Nov · usuallyClosures

  Central Vietnam takes the landfalls. A system offshore closes the beaches and the boats for days and is usually what starts the flooding inland. Source ↗

• Festival

  Mid-Autumn Festival

  25 SepMajor festival

  Lion dances through the lanes and children's lanterns on the river, the biggest night of the Hoi An year after Tet, on the eighth lunar full moon. Source ↗

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Hazard

  Old town flood season

  1 Oct – 15 Dec · usuallyClosures

  The Thu Bon comes up into the lanes nearest the water most years, usually for one to three days at a time. Shops board up and boats replace bicycles. Source ↗

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Typhoon season (1 Sep – 30 Nov (usually)), Mid-Autumn Festival (25 Sep)

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Typhoon season (1 Sep – 30 Nov (usually)), Old town flood season (1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Full moon lantern night (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Old town flood season (1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually))