Vietnam Public Holiday

Swallow Travel would like to give you a list of some highlight festivals and events in Vietnam. Please note that the surcharge for your travel dates will be on public holidays and consecutive Saturday & Sunday.

The night of 31 Dec and 1 Jan every year

Place: Whole Vietnam, best places to enjoy are big cities.

Most of the festivals, anniversaries and traditional cultural events of Vietnam are in accordance with its lunar calendar; however, nowadays, Christian calendar is widely used throughout the country. Annually, on the first day in this Western Calendar - January 1st, joining in the modern breathes of the world, Vietnam also celebrates the International New Year Day. It’s a public holiday in Vietnam

The International New Year Day brings people a good opportunity to go out, meet others and participate on exciting trips as well. Also on the holiday, related special programs would be broadcasted on local as well as national channels, and countdown parties would be taken place at places like Opera House or major avenues.

Time: 1 – 2 weeks around the first day of Lunar Year (late January – early February)

Place: Whole Vietnam, best places to enjoy are big cities.

Tet, or Lunar New Year, is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture and a major holiday across the country. Although the New Year date is February 12, the days leading up to Tet as well as the days following it are considered national holidays. Vietnamese prepare for Tet by cooking specific New Year foods, cleaning out their homes, buying new clothing, and paying respects to their ancestors. Flowering trees are placed outside every home and office, and a feeling of excitement and cheer envelops the entire country. On the very first day of Tet, children will receive a red envelope containing lucky money from elders.

People from all over the country will return to their hometowns for the Tet holiday, creating heavy demand for bus, train and plane tickets, as well as hotel rooms. With many staffs gone home to their families, businesses and restaurants typically shut for at least the first few days of Tet. Expect cities to be quiet during this time, as well as limited dining and shopping options. We highly recommend you book your holiday in advance if you travel in this period.

Time: the 8th to the 11th day of the third lunar month

Place: Phu Tho Province

Every year, a large number of visitors from all over the country participate in a national festival – Hung King Temple Festival – an incense offering ceremony in honor of Hung Kings, who were instrumental in the founding of the nation. The main festival day is on the 10th day of the third lunar March, on which the National Assembly has approved Vietnamese working people to annually have one more national holiday to mark the anniversary of the Hung King’s death.

Time: April 30th

In the history of Vietnam, April 30th, 1975 is the day that marks the ending the Vietnam War and leading to the liberation of Vietnam's southern part. Every year since, the country celebrates this day as a commemoration to the reunification between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the North and the Republic of Vietnam in the South into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as we know today. Over a week prior to April 30th, streets in big cities like Hanoi, Hue, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City are eye-catchingly decorated with colorful banners, flags and neon lights. Also, celebration areas are prepared—it could be a place for parade, or the stage for a national live show.

Also, the next day is International Labor Day (May 1st), it becomes one of the biggest public holiday in the country. If you have any plan to travel in this period, we highly recommend you book your holiday in advance.

Time: May 1st

Together with more than 80 countries all over the world, the International Workers' Day, as known as International Labor Day or May Day in Vietnam, is a public holiday of the nation. It is celebrated on the first day of May, right after the Reunification Day; as a result, the two holidays are normally joined together into one break. In some special years when both of these days fall on weekends (Saturdays and Sundays), people will be off from work for four consecutive days.

Time: September 2nd ( and 1 extra day on 1 Sept or 3 Sept)

To any country, Independence Day is an important historical, political or cultural event associated with its current status. In most nations, this holiday originally leads to the birth of the country. Similarly in Vietnam, the origin of this day tracks back to the year of 1945. On September 2nd, thousands of people gathered at Ba Dinh Square, Hanoi to listen to the Declaration of Independence read by Ho Chi Minh, the first President of Vietnam, which officially stated that Vietnam was free from French’s colonial force. From that moment on, every year is the same as Vietnamese people have been always celebrating this meaningful occasion. In addition, this special event aims at commemorating the Independence of Vietnam after hundred years under France’s colonization. There are a wide range of activities can be found in the Independence Day of Vietnam: fireworks are shot in the sky, marches are organized on streets, and so on. Among residents, many individuals make good use of their day off by taking a shot journey somewhere nearby or by visiting Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum or Ba Dinh Square in order to ponder over the historical event taking place years ago.