What festivals are on in Vietnam in October 2026?
October 2026 has no paid public holiday, but the regional festival calendar is packed. The month opens with the Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc autumn festival and the Lam Kinh festival; mid-month brings the Cham Katê festival, the Khmer Sene Dolta and the Hanoi Autumn Festival; the month closes with the Keo Pagoda and Và Temple festivals and the start of the Kathina robe-offering season. Dates below follow organisers' announcements as of 25 September 2026 and can still change: the Hanoi Autumn Festival has already been moved once from late September.
| Gregorian date | Lunar date | Festival | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep to 4 Oct | 16th to 24th of month 8 | Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc autumn festival, memorial rites for Trần Hưng Đạo on 30 Sep | Chí Linh, Hải Phòng (formerly Hải Dương) |
| 1 to 3 Oct | 21st to 23rd of month 8 | Lam Kinh festival, main rites on 2 Oct | Lam Sơn Commune, Thanh Hóa |
| 1 to 4 Oct | 21st to 24th of month 8 | Second World Culture Festival in Hanoi | Thăng Long Imperial Citadel, Hanoi |
| 5 to 12 Oct | 25th of month 8 to 3rd of month 9 | Katê festival, main day Saturday 10 Oct | Po Klong Garai and Po Rome towers (Khánh Hòa); Po Sah Inu tower (Lâm Đồng) |
| 10 to 12 Oct | 1st to 3rd of month 9 | Sene Dolta, the Khmer festival honouring ancestors | Cần Thơ, Vĩnh Long, An Giang, Cà Mau |
| 16 to 18 Oct | 7th to 9th of month 9 | Hanoi Autumn Festival | Thống Nhất Park, Hanoi |
| 19 to 24 Oct | 10th to 15th of month 9 | Keo Pagoda autumn festival | Vũ Tiên Commune, Hưng Yên (formerly Thái Bình) |
| 23 and 24 Oct | 14th and 15th of month 9 | Và Temple autumn festival | Sơn Tây, Hanoi |
| 24 Oct to 23 Nov | 15th of month 9 to 15th of month 10 | End of the Theravada rains retreat and the Kathina robe-offering season | Theravada and Khmer temples nationwide |
This year's Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc festival is the first autumn season since the Yên Tử, Vĩnh Nghiêm, Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc complex was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2025, and it runs for nine days.
Katê follows the Cham calendar rather than the Vietnamese lunar calendar, so its Gregorian date moves a lot from year to year: the main day was 21 October in 2025 and is 10 October this year. Sene Dolta follows the Khmer calendar and behaves the same way: in 2025 it fell on 21 to 23 September.
Where should you go in Vietnam in October 2026?
If you can take only one trip, the weekend of 10 and 11 October has the most going on: the main Katê day in Khánh Hòa and Lâm Đồng, Sene Dolta in the Mekong Delta, and Capital Liberation Day in Hanoi. In the north there are two festival weekends in a row, in Hanoi and Hưng Yên.
| Region | Where to go | Best timing |
|---|---|---|
| Hanoi | World Culture Festival at the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel | 1 to 4 Oct (Thursday to Sunday) |
| Hanoi | Hanoi Autumn Festival in Thống Nhất Park | 16 to 18 Oct (Friday to Sunday) |
| Hanoi | Và Temple autumn festival, Sơn Tây | 23 and 24 Oct |
| Hải Phòng | Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc | Until 4 Oct |
| Hưng Yên | Keo Pagoda autumn festival | Opens 19 Oct; the full-moon day, 24 Oct, is a Saturday |
| Thanh Hóa | Lam Kinh, free admission 30 Sep to 3 Oct | 2 Oct |
| Khánh Hòa | Katê at the Po Klong Garai and Po Rome towers; first Bàu Trúc Cham pottery festival | 10 to 12 Oct |
| Lâm Đồng | Katê at Po Sah Inu tower and Bắc Bình Commune | 9 to 12 Oct |
| Cần Thơ | Sene Dolta, city-level celebration on the morning of 11 Oct at Đay Om Pu pagoda | 10 to 12 Oct |
The buckwheat flower festival in Đồng Văn (Tuyên Quang, formerly Hà Giang) has no firm opening date yet: the original plan said 6 November, a later report said it had moved to 25 October, and the local paper wrote "early November" on 10 September. The flowers bloom from October to the end of December, so the trip does not depend on the opening; if you want the opening ceremony, check with local authorities before booking transport.
What lunar month is October 2026?
October 2026 covers the end of the 8th lunar month and almost all of the 9th lunar month of the Bính Ngọ year. 1 October is the 21st of month 8, 10 October is the 1st of month 9 (the Mậu Tuất month), and 31 October is the 22nd of month 9.
| Gregorian date | Lunar date | Occasion |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 8 Oct | 28th of month 8 | Hàn lộ (Cold Dew) solar term |
| Saturday 10 Oct | 1st of month 9 | First day of the lunar month: pagoda visits and ancestor offerings |
| Sunday 18 Oct | 9th of month 9 | Tết Trùng Cửu (Double Ninth): climbing high, praying for long life |
| Friday 23 Oct | 14th of month 9 | Sương giáng (Frost's Descent) solar term |
| Saturday 24 Oct | 15th of month 9 | Full-moon day; end of the Theravada rains retreat |
| Wednesday 28 Oct | 19th of month 9 | Feast of Guanyin's renunciation, one of her three feast days of the year |
Which days in October 2026 does folk custom avoid?
By folk custom, October 2026 has seven tam nương days and three nguyệt kỵ days, both traditionally considered unlucky. These are oral beliefs with no scientific basis; people who keep them usually avoid only major undertakings such as weddings, breaking ground or long journeys.
| Type | Lunar days | Gregorian dates in October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Tam nương | 3, 7, 13, 18, 22, 27 | 2, 7, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31 |
| Nguyệt kỵ | 5, 14, 23 | 3, 14, 23 |
Are there public holidays or commemorations in October 2026?
October has no paid public holiday under the Labour Code. The next one is 24 November, Vietnam Culture Day, a fully paid day off under Resolution 28/2026/QH16, in force since 1 July 2026; this year it falls on a Tuesday. For Sene Dolta, Cần Thơ gives Khmer public employees and students three days off, 10 to 12 October.
| Date | Occasion |
|---|---|
| 1 Oct | International Day of Older Persons |
| 10 Oct | Capital Liberation Day (1954), 72nd anniversary |
| 13 Oct | Vietnamese Entrepreneurs' Day |
| 20 Oct | Vietnamese Women's Day |
| 31 Oct | Halloween, popular with young city dwellers, not a Vietnamese custom |
What festivals come after October?
The next major festival is Ok Om Bok, the Khmer moon-worship festival with Ngo boat races. In Vĩnh Long (formerly Trà Vinh) it runs from 18 to 24 November, with boat races on 21 and 22 November on the Láng Thé River and the moon-worship night on 24 November at Ao Bà Om. Cần Thơ (formerly Sóc Trăng) holds its own: opening on 22 November, boat races on 23 and 24 November.
