Building on the success of the first Thang Long-Hanoi Festival in 2025, the second edition will take place from September 11 to 20, 2026, across some of the capital’s most prominent cultural and heritage sites, including the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the Temple of Literature, the Hanoi Museum, Bat Trang Commune, and the areas around the Martyrs’ Monument and Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square.

Speaking at a press conference on the afternoon of August 20, Le Thi Anh Mai, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said this year’s festival will be larger and more diverse, extending across a range of cultural and heritage sites and public spaces to create a journey through Hanoi’s cultural landscape.

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Le Thi Anh Mai, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The festival will also place greater emphasis on international exchange, with art troupes from Japan, South Korea and India joining Vietnamese performers to showcase the diversity of Vietnamese culture while expanding cooperation between Hanoi, other localities and international partners.

Under the theme Heritage Flow, the festival will continue to celebrate, preserve and promote the capital’s cultural heritage while encouraging artistic creativity rooted in tradition and strengthening cultural exchanges both within Vietnam and internationally. It will also contribute to the development of cultural industries and promote Hanoi’s image as a City for Peace and a UNESCO Creative City.

Through art programs, exhibitions, craft village experiences and performances of intangible cultural heritage, the festival will provide opportunities for artists, artisans, designers, arts organizations, cultural businesses and creative communities to meet and exchange ideas. The activities are also expected to raise public awareness and responsibility for preserving, practicing and passing cultural values on to future generations.

By connecting heritage with art, creativity, education, tourism and community cultural activities, the festival will help unlock heritage as a resource for sustainable development, gradually advancing Hanoi’s cultural industries and fostering distinctive cultural products associated with the capital.

The festival will unfold across multiple venues with a wide range of performances and cultural exchange activities. Its special opening program will take place at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel heritage site at 8pm on September 11 and is expected to welcome around 5,000 delegates and guests from Vietnam and abroad.

According to director Pham Hoang Giang, the opening program will take place in a heritage setting steeped in history, connecting traditional cultural values with contemporary forms of artistic expression. Guided by the principle of “Continuity - Adaptation - Connection,” the show will combine singing, dance and music with modern performance technologies including 3D mapping, augmented reality (AR), a revolving stage and special stage effects.

Tinh Le