2-week Thang Long – Hanoi Festival 2025 to enliven Vietnam's capital with diverse activities

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Le Thi Anh Mai, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, said the festival aims to celebrate the millennia-old heritage of Thang Long – Hanoi and will become an annual cultural rendezvous promoting innovation, creativity, and integration.

The event expresses Hanoi’s aspiration to become a creative hub of Southeast Asia, where tradition meets modernity and national identity harmonizes with international exchange.

The festival will take place at iconic heritage and creative venues across the capital city, including the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Ngoc Son Temple, the Temple of Literature, the Hanoi Museum, and Hoan Kiem Lake.

At the Temple of Literature, visitors can enjoy the “Heritage Convergence” exhibition from November 1 to 9, showcasing traditional craft village products from Vietnam’s three former imperial capitals: Thang Long, Hue, and Hoa Lu, along with displays from the Central Highlands provinces.

The site will also host culinary events under the theme “Flavors of Hanoi” and creative craft and design activities from November 1 to 16.

At the Hanoi Museum, visitors can explore the special exhibition “Archaeological Discoveries from the Vuon Chuoi Site” on November 2 and the Solo Puppet space, where traditional water puppetry will be reimagined through interactive performances.

A key highlight of the festival will be the international art program “Eternal Moment” on November 8, featuring Swiss composer Dominique Barthassat and Hanoi’s creative community groups.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the tug-of-war ritual and game being inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, teams from South Korea and several other countries will join Vietnamese teams in performances on November 16 at Tran Vu Temple.

An international seminar titled “A Decade of Preserving and Promoting the Tug-of-War Ritual and Game” will also be held on November 15.

This year’s Hanoi Tourism Ao Dai Festival 2025, the fourth edition of the event, will run from November 7 to 9 at the Hanoi Museum and around Hoan Kiem Lake, celebrating the beauty of the traditional Vietnamese dress in connection with the capital’s cultural and tourism values.

Other notable programs include the Expanded Hanoi Puppet Festival on November 15, the theatrical performance “Thang Long Imperial Capital” on November 10 at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, and “Ngoc Son – A Mystical Night” at Ngoc Son Temple.