In the early days of the Binh Ngo Spring 2026, the Hoan Kiem Lake area and the Ha Noi Old Quarter will be filled with the colours of peach blossoms, kumquat trees, flags and flowers, while also being awakened by a long-standing cultural current, where the values of traditional Tet return to their cultural space, with continuity and transmission nurtured within the community.
“Vietnamese Tet – Tet in the Old Quarter” is an event organised under the direction of the People’s Committee of Hoan Kiem Ward, with coordination by the Hoan Kiem Lake and Ha Noi Old Quarter Management Board, together with organisations and individuals, aiming to recreate, preserve and spread the cultural values of traditional Tet within the special heritage space of Hoan Kiem Lake and the Ha Noi Old Quarter.
The programme is organised in the first year that Hoan Kiem Ward operates under the two-tier local government model, thereby affirming the proactive and creative role of grassroots authorities in inheriting and promoting cultural heritage values, bringing heritage closer to community life and cultural activities.
With the overarching orientation of restoring traditional Tet to its rightful place as a living cultural space, “Vietnamese Tet – Tet in the Old Quarter” 2026 is designed as an integrated series of activities, where residents and visitors can observe and appreciate, while also directly participating, practising and experiencing the cultural depth of Vietnamese Tet through rituals, customs and traditional lifestyles associated with heritage spaces such as communal houses, temples, ancient houses and craft streets.
The programme content focuses on recreating the traditional Tet space of the Red River Delta; practising and reviving folk rituals such as traditional processions to present offerings at communal temples, the Ceremony of Reporting to the Tutelary Deity, the Tet bamboo pole-raising ritual, performances of ao dai, ceremonial practices and folk music within the Old Quarter and the Hoan Kiem Lake pedestrian area.
In addition, there are vibrant activities introducing handicrafts, craft village products, traditional arts and experiential activities such as wrapping banh chung and preparing Tet in an old Ha Noi family style; art exhibitions, traditional art performances, and exchanges with cultural researchers, artisans and the community.
A highlight of this year’s programme is the close linkage of heritage sites in the Old Quarter and the Hoan Kiem Lake area with Tet activities, creating resonance and mutual enhancement between tangible heritage spaces and intangible cultural practices.
After five years of organisation, the Hoan Kiem Lake and Ha Noi Old Quarter Management Board continues to coordinate with the Vietnamese Communal House Club, Bach Hoa Bo Hanh, the Viet Nam Equestrian Club, Pham Gia Ao Dai, Thong Dong and others to organise offering processions and conduct the bamboo pole-raising ritual.
This year’s traditional procession and bamboo pole-raising ceremony are organised on a new scale and with a new approach, taking O Quan Chuong as the starting point — a “heritage stage” — forming a procession route that honours the historical and cultural values of the Old Quarter and the Hoan Kiem Lake area.
Notably, the participation of the Viet Nam Equestrian Club with 15 mounted horses symbolically recreates the image of heralds announcing the arrival of Tet and Spring. Alongside this, wooden horse figures created by children from Hoan Kiem Ward will add fresh and vivid imagery of the zodiac animal of the year, creating a lively intergenerational connection within the traditional festival space.
The bamboo pole-raising ceremony at Kim Ngan Communal House is selected as a key highlight, reflecting the depth of beliefs and traditional Tet customs associated with this ancient communal house of the Old Quarter’s craft streets.
The “Vietnamese Tet – Tet in the Old Quarter” Binh Ngo Spring 2026 programme will officially open at 9:00 a.m. on January 17, 2026, at the Cultural and Arts Centre, 22 Hang Buom Street, Hoan Kiem Ward, Ha Noi. This event marks the opening of a series of activities recreating the traditional Tet space of the Red River Delta within the special heritage space of the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake.
From January 17 to March 17, the Cultural and Arts Centre at 22 Hang Buom will host traditional Tet decorations and spatial installations, along with the Vietnamese Tet – Tet in the Old Quarter Spring Market 2026, displaying and introducing handicrafts, traditional craft village products, candied fruits, jams, medicinal teas, Tet gifts and Tet-related products from many artisans, craft villages and traditional brands.
During the same period, the Heritage House 87 Ma May will recreate the Tet celebrations of an old Ha Noi family; Kim Ngan Communal House (42 Hang Bac) and the heritage site at 40 Lan Ong will be decorated and arranged as traditional Tet spaces. At 40 Lan Ong, there will also be experiences featuring medicinal teas and traditional Tet customs. At Dong Lac Communal House (38 Hang Dao), a lacquer art exhibition titled “The Year of the Horse in the Colours of Lacquer HanoiA” will take place.
From January 19 to March 17, the Ha Noi Old Quarter Heritage Information Centre (28 Hang Buom) will continue to be arranged as a traditional Tet space, expanding the Tet cultural experience within the Old Quarter. From January 22 to March 1, the Ho Guom Cultural Information Centre (2 Le Thai To) will display and introduce artworks under the theme “Spring Colours of Binh Ngo”.
From January 23 to March 1, the Ha Noi Old Quarter Cultural Exchange Centre (50 Dao Duy Tu) will host displays of traditional Tet spaces and the art exhibition “Welcoming Binh Ngo Spring 2026”.
Within the programme framework, on the evening of January 24 (from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.), the Ha Noi Old Quarter Cultural Exchange Centre at 50 Dao Duy Tu will host a traditional music performance titled “Our Music in the Old Quarter”, performed by the Dong Kinh Co Nhac group, introducing the essence of traditional music within the Old Quarter setting.
On February 8, from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., the Hoan Kiem Lake and Ha Noi Old Quarter Management Board, in coordination with units and individuals, will reconstruct traditional Tet rituals, including an offering procession at communal temples and a flower procession announcing the joyful arrival of Binh Ngo Spring 2026.
The procession will depart from O Quan Chuong, pass through Hang Chieu, Hang Duong, Hang Ngang, Hang Dao streets, Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square, the Hoan Kiem Lake pedestrian area, Le Thai To, Hang Khay, Dinh Tien Hoang, Dinh Liet and Hang Bac streets, and conclude at Kim Ngan Communal House (42 Hang Bac).
Here, the Ceremony of Reporting to the Tutelary Deity and the Tet bamboo pole-raising ritual will take place. Notably, the procession will include 15 horses performed by the Viet Nam Equestrian Club, along with groups practising traditional culture, creating a solemn, brilliant and lively atmosphere of old Tet in the heart of the Old Quarter.
On February 12 (the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month), from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, traditional banh chung wrapping activities will take place at the Cultural and Arts Centre, 22 Hang Buom. From 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. the same day, the public can participate in the programme “Old Tet Pastimes – Tet Today”, wearing traditional attire while visiting the Old Quarter and Hang Luoc Flower Market along the route from 22 Hang Buom to Hang Luoc.
On the same evening, from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., the Cultural and Arts Centre at 22 Hang Buom will host the “Year-End Exchange Gala”, featuring discussions with cultural researchers and experts on traditional Vietnamese Tet, alongside performances of traditional music.
Through this programme, the Hoan Kiem Lake and Ha Noi Old Quarter Management Board affirms its role as a core unit in preserving and promoting tangible and intangible cultural heritage values; at the same time, it aims to educate younger generations about heritage, link conservation with tourism development, commerce and the creative economy, and contribute to building the image of Ha Noi – a Creative City, where tradition and modernity blend harmoniously, shining together in the colours of spring.
