A dated calendar of Southeast Asia travel experiences
Festivals
Festival dates, and how they are set
One table for the festivals people plan trips around, with the date for 2026 and 2027 and a plain label for each: official (in a published decree or notice), announced (by organisers or the press), or calculated (by us, from the moon). Below the table: how the lunar calendars work, and why a date can still move.
The table
| Festival | Country | 2026 | 2027 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tet (lunar new year) | Vietnam | 17 February | 6 February; holiday 4–10 February | Official (2027 holiday notice) |
| Songkran | Thailand | 13–15 April | 13–15 April | Official for 2026; fixed dates |
| Pi Mai Lao | Laos | 14–16 April | Expected mid-April | Official for 2026 |
| Khmer New Year | Cambodia | 14–16 April | Expected mid-April | Official for 2026 |
| Visakha Bucha / Visak Bochea | Region | 1 May (Cambodia holiday) | Around 20 May full moon | 2026 official; 2027 calculated |
| Mid-Autumn (Trung Thu) | Vietnam | 25 September | 15 September | Calculated |
| Pchum Ben | Cambodia | 10–12 October | Not yet published | Official for 2026 |
| End of Buddhist Lent (Ok Phansa) | Thailand, Laos | Around 26 October full moon | Around 15 October full moon | Calculated; national calendars may differ by a day |
| Loi Krathong | Thailand | 24 November (some guides: 25) | 13–14 November | Announced by guides; check |
| Yi Peng | Chiang Mai | 24–25 November | 13–14 November | Announced by guides; check |
| Bon Om Touk (Water Festival) | Cambodia | 23–25 November | Around 14 November full moon | 2026 official; 2027 calculated |
| Hoi An lantern nights | Vietnam | Every 14th lunar day | Every 14th lunar day | Calculated; see the Hoi An page |
Past dates in 2026 are kept for reference: they show the pattern for the following year. "Calculated" means we worked the date out from the moon; it does not mean an authority has confirmed it.
Sources: Ha Tinh provincial portal — Tet 2027 holiday (Ministry of Home Affairs notice); Thairath — April 2026 public holidays; Vientiane Times — 2026 public holidays (Prime Minister's Office); Andersen Cambodia — Sub-Decree 167 on 2026 public holidays (law firm summary); Thai Holiday Guide — Loy Krathong (independent guide); Ume Travel — Loy Krathong and Yi Peng dates (travel company guide); Tourist Bucket lunar and sun calculations (PyEphem, UTC+7), cross-checked with a Chinese-calendar library · last checked .
How the Vietnamese lunar calendar works
Vietnam uses a lunisolar calendar, very close to the Chinese one but calculated for Vietnamese time (UTC+7). Each month begins on the day of the new moon, so the 15th day is at or near the full moon. Months have 29 or 30 days, and a leap month is added roughly every three years to keep the calendar in step with the seasons. That is why Tet moves between late January and late February.
Because Vietnam computes the new moon for its own time zone, a new moon that occurs close to midnight can fall on different civil days in Vietnam and China. We checked every month from January 2026 to March 2028: in that period, all Vietnamese and Chinese month starts fall on the same day, so published Chinese calendars give the same dates for these two years.
Festivals tied to the Vietnamese calendar include Tet (first day of the first month), the Hoi An lantern nights (14th day of every month) and Mid-Autumn (15th day of the eighth month).
Sources: Tourist Bucket lunar and sun calculations (PyEphem, UTC+7), cross-checked with a Chinese-calendar library · last checked .
How the Thai, Lao and Khmer calendars differ
The Theravada Buddhist countries also use lunar months, but their calendars are not the Vietnamese one. Months are counted from a different starting point, a leap month or leap day is added by its own rules, and the official full-moon day can differ by one day from the astronomical full moon. Loi Krathong is a clear example: it falls on the full moon of the 12th Thai lunar month, and for 2026 sources split between 24 and 25 November, while the astronomical full moon is on the evening of 24 November.
The new year festivals are different again. Songkran, Pi Mai Lao and Khmer New Year are solar, linked to the sun's entry into Aries, and fall in mid-April every year. Their exact public holiday days are fixed by each government, sometimes with extra days added.
Sources: Thai Holiday Guide — Loy Krathong (independent guide); Ume Travel — Loy Krathong and Yi Peng dates (travel company guide); Wikipedia — Loi Krathong; Tourist Bucket lunar and sun calculations (PyEphem, UTC+7), cross-checked with a Chinese-calendar library · last checked .
Why an announced date can still move
- Organisers change it. The 2026 buckwheat festival on the Dong Van plateau was first announced for 6 November and then reported as opening on 25 October.
- Weather cancels it. Hoi An lantern nights in the flood season can be called off at short notice.
- Safety rules restrict it. Chiang Mai limits sky-lantern releases to permitted places and times, and in 2025 its airport cancelled or rescheduled 161 flights around the release nights.
- The holiday list is not yet out. Cambodia's holiday sub-decree for 2026 was issued on 18 September 2025; the 2027 one may follow a similar timetable, so 2027 dates are estimates until then.
- Mourning or national events. Public celebrations can be scaled back by official decision at short notice.
Sources: VietnamPlus — buckwheat flower festival 2026 announced; VietnamPlus — buckwheat in bloom at Pho Bang, festival opening 25 October; vietnamtourism.com — November 2026 lantern night (travel website); Khaosod English — Chiang Mai airport adjusts flights for Yi Peng; Andersen Cambodia — Sub-Decree 167 on 2026 public holidays (law firm summary) · last checked .
Using the table
If a date is official, book around it. If it is announced, book refundable. If it is calculated, use it to narrow your window and wait for the organisers before you commit money you cannot get back. The planning page turns that into booking windows.
For individual festivals, see Hoi An full-moon nights, Loi Krathong and Yi Peng and the April new year festivals.
Common questions
Questions readers ask
Why do Tet and the lantern nights move every year?
They follow the lunar calendar, whose months begin at each new moon. Twelve lunar months are about 354 days, so dates shift against the solar calendar until a leap month brings them back.
Can I use a Chinese calendar for Vietnamese festival dates?
For 2026 and 2027, yes: we checked every month and all start on the same day. In some other years a month can start one day apart because Vietnam uses UTC+7.
When will the 2027 Cambodian holiday dates be known?
When the government issues the holiday sub-decree. The 2026 list was issued in September 2025.
Is Songkran on the same days every year?
The official holiday is 13 to 15 April. Governments sometimes add days to make a longer break.
Related
Read next
Festivals · Vietnam
Hoi An lantern nights
Every Hoi An lantern night through 2027, with the lights-off time, the old town ticket and the flood months.
Read more
Festivals · Thailand
Loi Krathong and Yi Peng
The 2026 and 2027 dates, why sources disagree, the Chiang Mai no-lantern zones and how the airport changes its schedule.
Read more
Festivals · Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
April new year festivals
Dates and differences for Songkran, Pi Mai Lao and Khmer New Year, with the holiday week's transport and heat.
Read more
Calendar · Fourth quarter
October to December
Buckwheat blossom, Loi Krathong and Yi Peng, Bon Om Touk, Angkor's new dry season and the central coast floods.
Read more
Planning
Planning around a date
How to plan around an official, announced or calculated date: booking windows, price spikes and spare days.
Read more
Independent travel calendar
Home
Start here: the calendar of festivals, harvests and seasons across five countries, with dates and check dates.
Read more
Start planning
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