1st January: New Year’s Day (Tet Duong Lich) (Public holiday)
Late January or early February: Vietnamese and Chinese New Year (Tet Nguyen Dan) (Public holiday) Officially a three day festival, but celebrations start one week before and last until at least one week after.
3rd February: Anniversary of the Founding of the Vietnamese Communist Party (Thanh Lap Dang CSVN) (Public holiday)
March and April
7th to 15th April: Hue Festival
12th April: Gio to Hung Vuong Day (Public holiday’): Commemorating King Hung who was the first king of Van Lang or Lac Viet.
Sixth day of the second lunar month: Hai Ba Trung Day Celebrates the revolt of the Trung sisters against the Chinese in 40 AD.
Fifth day of the third lunar month: Holiday of the Dead (Thanh Minh): People pay honor to deceased ancestors by visiting their graves with offerings of food, flowers and incense.
28th April to 2nd May: Halong Tourism Festival
30th April: Liberation Day (Saigon Giai Phong) (Public holiday)
May – June
1st May: International Workers’ Day (Quoc Te Lao Dong) (Public holiday)
19th May: Ho Chi Minh’s Birthday (Sinh Nhat Bac Ho) (Public holiday)
Eighth day of the fourth lunar month: Buddha’s Birth, Enlightenment and Death: Large celebrations at Buddhist temples and pagodas. (Public holiday)
Fifth day of the fifth lunar month: Summer Solstice Day (Tiet Doan Ngo). Vietnamese regard summer solstice as an unhealthy time of the year. They burn paper effigies as offerings to the god of death to appease him and prevent the spread of diseases, sickness and bad luck.
July – August
Fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month: Wandering of Wandering Souls (Trung Nguyen), the spirits of the dead are believed to visit their offspring’s homes.
September – October
2nd September: National Day (Quoc Khan) (Public holiday). The day Viet Nam declared its independence.
Fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month: Mid-Autumn Festival (Trung Thu). This is a family oriented festival. It mainly features children gathering around multi-colour lanterns to listen to folktales. A grand feast, lion dances and art exhibition along with other forms of entertainment marks the celebration.
Kate Festival: This is the Cham ethnic minority people’s New Year festival. It includes unique rituals, traditions and culture of this ethnic minority group. The Cham ethnic group in An Phuoc District of Ninh Thuan Province hold it annually.
November and December
24th December: Christmas Day (Giang Sinh). It is not a national holiday, but is celebrated throughout Viet Nam.
31st December: New Years Eve. It is not a national holiday, but is celebrated throughout Viet Nam.