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If you are riding the Ha Giang Loop in September, the Tuyen Quang Festival is the one event worth planning your trip around. Held from 19–25 September 2026 in Tuyen Quang city, the Tuyen Quang Festival — officially the Thanh Tuyen Festival (Lê hội Thành Tuyên) — is recognised as the largest Mid-Autumn celebration in Vietnam, famous for its night parade of giant, hand-built illuminated lantern floats. Because Ha Giang is now part of Tuyen Quang province, the festival sits right on the road between Hanoi and the Loop — an easy, unforgettable add-on to your ride.
The Tuyen Quang Festival is a week-long Mid-Autumn festival held every September in Tuyen Quang city, the provincial capital that now shares a province with Ha Giang. Its centrepiece is a nightly procession of enormous illuminated lantern floats — some several metres tall — shaped like dragons, phoenixes, fairy-tale scenes, folk legends and cartoon characters. Local neighbourhoods spend weeks designing and building them by hand, then push them through the streets after dark while crowds follow, drum troupes play, and children carry their own star lanterns.
What began as a spontaneous neighbourhood celebration has grown, over more than 20 years, into a provincial event that has earned multiple Guinness Vietnam records from the National Records Council. That scale and the homemade, community-built spirit are exactly why the Tuyen Quang Festival is called the largest Mid-Autumn festival in the country — and why it feels warmer and more authentic than a staged tourist show.
The full Tuyen Quang Festival runs from 19 to 25 September 2026, timed around the Mid-Autumn full moon. Different highlights land on different nights, so it helps to know the schedule before you plan your Loop dates.
| Date (2026) | Event |
| 19–25 September | Festival week: lantern displays, food and craft fairs, sports events across the city |
| 20 September, 8:00 PM | “Thanh Tuyen Festival Night” — the grand lantern-float parade at Nguyen Tat Thanh Square (the main event) |
| 25 September | Children’s Mid-Autumn night (“lighting the dreams of Tuyen Quang’s children”) at 26/3 Square |
If you can only catch one night, aim for 20 September, when the biggest floats parade through the centre. Note that these are solar-calendar dates set by the organisers for 2026; Mid-Autumn shifts each year with the lunar calendar, so always check the current year’s programme.
The main events happen in the heart of Tuyen Quang city. The grand parade and stage show are at Nguyen Tat Thanh Square (Minh Xuan ward), while the children’s night is held at 26/3 Square, and the food, craft and OCOP fair lines Chien Thang Song Lo street. Everything is walkable within the small city centre, and much of the fun spills out onto surrounding streets as floats move between venues.
Crucially for travellers, Tuyen Quang city sits about 165 km north of Hanoi on the main highway toward the mountains. It is the natural halfway point on the journey from Hanoi to Ha Giang — you almost certainly pass through it on your way to or from the Loop.
Three reasons make the Tuyen Quang Festival a genuine bonus for anyone doing the Ha Giang Loop in September:
For riders specifically, the festival week even includes an off-road car and motorbike exhibition — a fun detour if you love machines as much as mountains.
The lantern floats are the soul of the Tuyen Quang Festival. For 2026, organisers selected 40 standout lantern models — chosen from 129 designs created and built by local residents — plus five sponsor floats, for the main parade. Expect towering, brightly lit structures rolling slowly down the street, each one the pride of a particular neighbourhood.
Around them, the night fills with lion, unicorn and dragon dances, a stage programme of music and performance, and the simple joy of thousands of families out together. The organisers also hand gifts to 100 disadvantaged children, keeping the festival’s Mid-Autumn heart — a celebration for kids — front and centre.
According to Bao Tuyen Quang, the provincial newspaper, the 2026 edition carries the theme “Lung linh đêm hội trăng rằm” (“A shimmering full-moon night”) and is broadcast live on regional television.
The Tuyen Quang Festival is more than one parade night. Across the week you can enjoy:
Fitting the Tuyen Quang Festival into your trip is simple. Here is the easiest way to do it:
Prefer to keep things simple? Our team can build the festival into a private itinerary so you ride the Loop and catch the parade without the logistics headache.
Yes. The Tuyen Quang Festival is widely recognised as the largest Mid-Autumn celebration in Vietnam and has received multiple Guinness Vietnam records over its 20-plus-year history, thanks to its scale and its giant, community-built lantern floats.
Festival week runs 19–25 September 2026, with the grand lantern-float parade on the night of 20 September at 8:00 PM.
Absolutely — if your dates line up. Tuyen Quang city is on the road between Hanoi and Ha Giang, so the festival adds a spectacular free evening without pulling you off route.
Watching the parade and street displays is free. You only pay for food, drinks, souvenirs and your accommodation.
It is about 165 km from Hanoi by road (roughly 3–4 hours), on the main route toward Ha Giang. Most travellers stop here on the way to or from the Loop.
The Tuyen Quang Festival is that rare thing: a huge, record-breaking celebration that still feels handmade and heartfelt — and it happens to sit right on the doorstep of the Ha Giang Loop in its most beautiful month. Time your trip well and you get golden rice, mountain passes and the biggest lantern night in Vietnam, all in one journey.
Want us to weave the Tuyen Quang Festival into your ride? We are a Ha Giang-based team who live and travel this region year-round. Message us and we will help you plan the dates, the route and the stay.
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