Binh Ngo Spring Festival offers immersive Tet experiences for visitors
As Vietnam prepares to welcome the Tet Binh Ngo (Lunar New Year of the Horse), a flagship Spring Festival will return to Hanoi with a program that blends heritage, sustainability and contemporary creativity, offering both residents and visitors a panoramic view of Vietnamese Tet culture.
THE HANOI TIMES — The Binh Ngo Spring Festival, themed around the Year of the Horse, will open on February 6, offering visitors an immersive cultural experience focused on hands-on Tet (Lunar New Year) traditions.
Traditional Vietnamese calligraphy remains a defining ritual of the Year of the Horse Spring Festival, embodying wishes for renewal and good fortune. Photo: Lai Tan/ The Hanoi Times
Running through February 9 at the Vietnam Cultural and Art Exhibition Center on Hoa Lu Street in Hanoi’s Hai Ba Trung Ward, the festival presents a contemporary interactive space that reinterprets the Lunar New Year through a modern lens.
A highlight is the exhibition “Net Zero – Year of the Horse”, which displays horse-themed paintings made from recycled cardboard, linking folk symbolism with environmental awareness.
Nearby, the “Seeing the Kinh Do Means Seeing Tet” space recreates the warmth of Hanoi households during the holiday, while the “I Draw Spring” exhibition showcases Tet-themed artworks by local children.
An installation titled “Spring Muse in Traditional Ao Dai” connects classical aesthetics with modern design.
Making banh chung, a cornerstone of Vietnamese New Year traditions, is among the Spring Festival’s most engaging experiences. Photo: Hoang Quyet/The Hanoi Times
The festival also features large-scale light sculptures, including a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh, founder of the Communist Party of Vietnam and “The Story of the Horse in Vietnamese Folklore”, which presents national history and mythology through contemporary visual art.
The cultural journey continues across themed exhibition areas. Visitors can explore “Ceramics: The Intersection of Tradition and Modernity”, learn about Vietnamese tea rituals and view traditional costumes such as giao linh, nhat binh, ngu than and ao dai, reflecting different layers of social history and craftsmanship.
Beyond exhibitions, the festival emphasizes participation. Visitors can join hands-on Tet activities such as wrapping and boiling banh chung and banh gai, making traditional jams and learning about folk gift-giving customs.
A horse-themed exhibition will take center stage at the Binh Ngo Spring Festival.
Craft and folk art workshops include making lucky money envelopes and paper fans, pottery, folk painting prints, calligraphy, sedge grass weaving and scented candle making.
Communal activities such as village fire nights, traditional dances, then singing with tinh instruments of the Tay ethnic minority and folk games, including bamboo pole jumping and spring chess animate the space and encourage shared celebration.
The festival also hosts a full lineup of performing arts programs, including “The Glory of Spring with the Party”, cultural exchanges between with South Korea and India, “Student’s Spring Colors”, folk art shows for the Year of the Horse, “Spring Beat 2026”, children’s dance exchanges and gala performances culminating in “Songs of the Spring”.
Open to the public free of charge, the Binh Ngo Spring Festival positions itself as a cultural destination that reflects Vietnam’s evolving identity while preserving the core spirit of Tet.
