Vietnam Festivals September 2026: Con Son-Kiep Bac Dates, Tickets and Crowd Plan

The Con Son-Kiep Bac Autumn Festival runs 25 to 30 September 2026, the 15th to the 20th day of the 8th lunar month. Six days, two sites, one lunar window. Because the schedule follows the lunar calendar, it lands on different Gregorian dates each year, which is why the festival sits in late September in 2026 rather than on a fixed annual date.

Con Son Pagoda observances open on 25 September 2026. Kiep Bac Temple's main ceremony is traditionally 30 September 2026, the closing day, and it is the reason this is one of the busiest Vietnam festivals in September 2026. Those two dates are the anchors: pilgrims climb about 600 steps to Con Son Pagoda or ride the cable car, while Kiep Bac honours Tran Hung Dao with processions and boat racing on the lake.

Both dates can move by a day. Provincial announcements sometimes adjust the programme close to the festival, so a schedule you read in July may not match the one posted in Chi Linh in September. Confirm locally before you pay for non-refundable transport or a hotel. A one-day slip matters most if you booked a Hanoi hotel for the wrong night; basing yourself in Chi Linh or Hai Duong City keeps that risk small. The Hai Duong provincial portal and the ticket offices at each site are where to check, ideally within a week of arrival.

All six days run, but the crowds are uneven. Opening day on 25 September and the 30 September ceremony at Kiep Bac draw the largest numbers, and the weekend of 26-27 September sits close behind. Weekday mornings on 28-29 September are the quiet window. Arriving at 6-7am puts you ahead of the coach groups, and cable car queues peak 9-11am.

Con Son Pagoda and Kiep Bac Temple are separate sites in Chi Linh City, Hai Duong Province. The distance between them shapes a visit. Plan the road transfer first, then treat festival week as a two-stop itinerary rather than one walkable site.

Kiep Bac Temple honours Tran Hung Dao, the general whose main ceremony is held there. Con Son Pagoda honours Nguyen Trai, the poet and scholar, and the area's Buddhist heritage. Con Son Pagoda sits above the valley, and pilgrims climb about 600 steps to reach it. A cable car covers the same climb for about 200,000 to 250,000 VND round trip at the 2025 rate. 2026 fares were not confirmed at research time. Cable car queues peak between 9 and 11am. If you ride up, walk down instead of joining the return queue. Confirm the cable car fare at the ticket office before you commit, since that is the biggest open question for 2026.

Entrance to either site runs 20,000 to 50,000 VND. Parking adds 20,000 to 50,000 VND. Festival entry itself is free. Bring cash for donations, parking, and small vendors. Signage and rituals are mostly in Vietnamese. Some ceremonies are religious rather than staged for visitors. Keep modest clothing for temple entry.

Both sites sit 2 to 2.5 hours by road from Hanoi and 1 hour from Hai Phong. No direct train serves Chi Linh, so take a coach or limousine to Hai Duong City and then a taxi onward. During festival week, allow a full day to see both sites properly. September in Hai Duong is hot, humid, and typhoon-prone, so pack a raincoat.

Con Son Pagoda opens the six days on 25 September 2026, and Kiep Bac Temple's main ceremony closes them, traditionally on 30 September 2026. The window is 25-30 September 2026, the 15th to the 20th day of the 8th lunar month. The Con Son side is Buddhist: pilgrims climb about 600 steps or ride the cable car (about 200,000 to 250,000 VND round trip, a 2025 rate), leave incense offerings, and join rituals that run through the morning. Calligraphy and poetry events sit alongside the prayer, held in Vietnamese and tied to the pagoda's association with Nguyen Trai.

At Kiep Bac the programme is louder. A procession opens the temple's observance, then boat racing on Kiep Bac lake, wrestling, human chess and quan ho folk singing fill the afternoons. Kiep Bac honours Tran Hung Dao, and the 30 September ceremony is the day most pilgrims plan around. Arrive before 9am if you want to watch without standing behind three rows of shoulders. Cable car queues peak 9-11am, and walking down is faster than queuing for the return trip.

These are working religious ceremonies, not staged performances. Watch from the edges of the courtyard, follow the cues of the people around you, and do not step into a prayer line for a photo. Signage and ritual announcements are mostly in Vietnamese, and English interpretation is limited, so keep a translation app open or ask your hotel to write a few phrases. Photography is generally tolerated at outdoor events; put the phone away during active prayer.

FAQ: Is the festival free? Yes, festival entry is free, with temple or pagoda entrance 20,000 to 50,000 VND and parking 20,000 to 50,000 VND. Which day is busiest? 30 September. Can I photograph the rituals? Outdoors, yes; during prayer, no.

Festival entry to both Con Son Pagoda and Kiep Bac Temple is free. You pay at the gates instead: temple or pagoda entrance costs about 20,000 to 50,000 VND, and parking is another 20,000 to 50,000 VND for a motorbike or car. Both are cash payments at the site, so keep small notes in your pocket before you leave the taxi in Chi Linh. There is no advance booking, no e-ticket, and no online queue for either venue.

The figure that is unsettled for 2026 is the Con Son cable car. A round trip cost roughly 200,000 to 250,000 VND at 2025 rates. No 2026 fare had been confirmed when this was researched, so ask at the ticket office at the base station before you join the queue. Treat any figure you see online, including this one, as a 2025 reference price. Walking the roughly 600 steps to the pagoda costs nothing.

For budgeting, a visitor who takes the cable car, pays the top entrance fee, and parks spends about 350,000 VND in total. That breaks down as 50,000 VND entrance plus 250,000 VND for the cable car plus 50,000 VND parking, with festival entry free. Add cash for incense, donations, and small vendors, since card payments are not the norm at stalls around either site. Budget 500,000 VND in hand if you want the cable car and plan to eat and buy offerings locally.

The festival runs 25-30 September 2026. Because provincial announcements can shift a price or a date by a day, confirm the cable car fare at the ticket office or through a Hai Duong provincial notice in the week before you travel.

There is no direct train to Con Son Pagoda or Kiep Bac Temple, so the journey runs on road transport. The road journey from Hanoi to Chi Linh takes 2 to 2.5 hours; from Hai Phong it takes about 1 hour. It splits into two legs: a coach or limousine to Hai Duong City, then a taxi for the final run to the sites.

Fares vary by operator and pickup point, so confirm the price when booking rather than assuming a standard rate. Limousines usually collect passengers from addresses in Hanoi and drop them in Hai Duong City. Ask the driver to leave you somewhere you can easily find a taxi, or at your hotel if you are staying the night. Agree the taxi fare to Chi Linh before you get in, or check that the meter is running.

On peak days, do not day-trip from Hanoi. Avoid 25 September, 30 September, and the weekend of 26-27 September, when crowds and traffic are heaviest and parking fills first. Book a room in Chi Linh or Hai Duong City instead, which puts you at the gate for the quietest window: weekday mornings on 28-29 September, arriving between 6 and 7am. Cable car queues peak at 9-11am, so sleeping nearby buys you the early slot.

September in Hai Duong is hot, humid, and typhoon-prone. Pack a raincoat and wear modest clothing for temple entry, since several ceremonies are religious rather than staged for visitors and signage is mostly in Vietnamese. Bring cash: parking runs 20,000 to 50,000 VND and small vendors rarely take cards. An overnight stay also means you are not racing a fixed coach departure after a long day on the steps.

The quietest stretch of the Con Son and Kiep Bac Autumn Festival is weekday mornings on 28 and 29 September, when the gates see a fraction of ceremony-day traffic. Arrive between 6 and 7am and you can climb the roughly 600 steps to Con Son Pagoda before the tour coaches reach Chi Linh City. The cable car queue also stays short at that hour, since it peaks between 9 and 11am.

Three windows are worth avoiding: the 25 September opening day, the 30 September main ceremony at Kiep Bac Temple, and the weekend of 26-27 September. On those days, traffic and parking fill first, and the cable car queue can run well past the 9-11am peak. If you dislike crush conditions, do not day-trip from Hanoi on those dates. Stay overnight in Chi Linh or Hai Duong City instead, which puts you at the gate for the quiet window.

At Con Son, walk down instead of queuing for the cable car return trip. The walk is steep but usually faster than waiting. At Kiep Bac, arrive before 9am if you want to watch the procession and boat racing without standing behind several rows of people. The festival runs 25-30 September 2026, so plan the quiet mornings around the fixed ceremony dates.

Pack a raincoat, not an umbrella, for the 25-30 September 2026 window. Northern Vietnam is hot, humid and typhoon-prone that month, and the festival grounds at Con Son Pagoda and Kiep Bac Temple in Chi Linh City, Hai Duong Province are largely open to the sky. Rain turns the roughly 600 steps up to Con Son Pagoda slick, and a poncho leaves both hands free on the handrail. Wear shoes with grip rather than sandals, and expect the humidity to soak a shirt within an hour of arrival.

Dress for a working temple, not a photo shoot. Cover shoulders and knees at both sites; visitors in shorts and tank tops are the outlier here, and the locals walking the same path are pilgrims. Signage and announcements are mostly in Vietnamese, and several ceremonies are religious rather than staged for tourists. If a procession or chanting session is underway, stand to the side of the route instead of cutting through it.

Bring cash. Among the many vietnam festivals on the September calendar, this one is unusually cheap: festival entry is free, temple or pagoda entrance runs 20,000 to 50,000 VND, and parking costs 20,000 to 50,000 VND. Add the Con Son cable car at about 200,000 to 250,000 VND round trip (a 2025 rate) and a full day comes to roughly 350,000 VND per person. Card acceptance is rare at the sites, so carry small notes for donations and vendors.

Prices are the biggest open question. The 2026 cable car fare was not confirmed at research time, and provincial announcements can also shift the festival dates by one day. Hours and prices change, so check with the ticket office or a 2026 announcement on the Hai Duong province portal before you travel rather than relying on last season's figures. If you build that verification into your planning, the day itself needs no guesswork beyond the weather.