Festivals and events, with the notice that dates them

Dates below are the most recent ones we could confirm from an official notice or a national newspaper. Lunar festivals shift by up to a month from year to year in the solar calendar, so treat a past date as a guide to the season, not to the day.

Ok Om Bok, the Khmer moon festival, falls at the full moon of the 10th lunar month, usually in November. Its main public events are the Ghe Ngo long-boat races and lantern releases. In 2025 the Can Tho edition ran from 3 to 5 November in Phu Loi and Soc Trang wards, with water-lantern shows on the Maspero River. Ao Ba Om in the former Tra Vinh province, now Vinh Long, is the other main venue. The festival and the boat races are national intangible heritage.

Can Tho runs several events planned by the city: a southern folk cake festival (26 April to 1 May in 2026) and a river culture festival over the New Year (27 December 2025 to 1 January 2026). In Dong Thap, the Sa Dec flower festival has been held twice, both times over the solar New Year, before the Tet flower market. In the former Cai Be district, the Dong Hoa Hiep ancient village festival returns for a 7th edition from 19 to 22 November 2026. These events are announced a few weeks ahead; the provincial tourism portals and the national VNAT site carry the notices.

Festivals bring crowds and can mean busy roads and scarce rooms. The Sam Mountain festival draws millions of visitors, according to the provincial notice; if you want to see the temple rather than the festival, go at another time. Ok Om Bok race days draw crowds to the riverbanks in the host wards. Around Tet, expect heavy demand for transport across the delta, and some family-run places close for the holiday.

Do not plan a trip around a date copied from a previous year or from a tour page. Confirm the year's dates from the provincial notice; the 2026 bull-race notice appeared nine days before the race.