If you are planning your Travel to Vietnam and especially in Hoi An, Da Nang and Hue in central region of country, try to make it consider with the full moon festival. Sometimes the best laid plans for travel fall apart and dates don’t seem work out, connection cant be made and attractions are closed even if you are joining an organized package. And other times, with absolutely no advance planning, things just fall into place. When I was organizing our last tour of Vietnam i had all destination locked in. Reservation were made at chosen hotels and resorts, flights were also booked and only then, after I had done all that, did I check to see if our stay in Hoi An would coincide with a Full Moon lantern festival.
Firstly, adjust your expectation if you’re thinking along the lines of Thailand luxury tours as this is a destination with so many Full moon parties, Vietnam isn’t all the same thing as Thailand. In Hoi An, the ful moon festival is about showcasing the town’s heritage and culture. Full moon festivals are held on the 14th day of every lunar month which gives travelers at least 12 chances every year. It’s worth checking with local source as to the actual date in a particular month, as I’ve found that dates are sometimes vary.

On the festival night, the Hoi An old town is close to all motorized vehicles at 6pm, regular electric street lighting is turned off, and the lanterns are lit, in the other hand, the full moon festival is a time for Vietnamese to honor their ancestors. Altars bedecked with flowers, fruits, food, candles and incense are set up at the front of many shops and homes. In exchange for this worship, ancestors will hopefully bestow good luck on their families.

Alongside the Thu Bon River are many sellers of floating paper lanterns, these lanterns are folded from colored paper and have a small candle in a square of polystyrene n the base. Competition for sales are fierce, so, tourists are also negotiation hard to buy lanterns, plus the services of two tiny, but skilled women to row tourists our in boats onto the river to float our lanterns downstream.

Besides the Full Moon festival in Hoi An, this ancient centrally located town in Vietnam is one of the must see destinations for anyone who is keen to visit anything from their holiday in Vietnam, it is stunningly beautiful, but also somewhat nervy experience, hundreds of paper lanterns to be lit, in a combustible wooden boat, out in the darkness of the river. Plus, every time you pass under one of the footbridges crossing the river, you had to out your head between your knees to avoid being hit.

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