The 2026 festival is not only an annual cultural and artistic event but also marks a shift from simply "organizing a creative design festival" to actively "building an urban creative ecosystem."
Its scale now extends beyond culture, arts, and design products to include urban design, public space design, social well-being, community design, and creative ideas that help address the city's pressing issues, such as urban order, environmental pollution, flooding in urban and peri-urban areas, and food safety. All concepts aim to improve the quality of life with people at the center.
The festival also affirms the city's determination to position Hanoi as a creative city in Vietnam, the region and within UNESCO's Creative Cities Network.
Activity components
The city will step up communication about the festival and activities in creative design through multiple channels, including operation of the festival's fanpage, development of a festival website with registration, networking, and project application functions, creation of the festival's visual identity, and publication of thematic articles, videos, trailers, reports and photo features.
The program announcement event will take place at 4:30 p.m. on December 10 2025 at the Hanoi Children's Palace, 5 Tran Nguyen Han Street, Hoan Kiem Ward, with 250–350 representatives from UNESCO Vietnam, UN-Habitat, several embassies and international organizations, national agencies, research institutes, professional associations, relevant city departments, commune and ward authorities, universities and creative enterprises.
The Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2026 will kick off on January 10 and 11, 2026 at Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square, the Octagonal House area, and locations and streets around Hoan Kiem Lake.
The city will establish cultural industry center models in Dong Xuan–Bac Qua and Cua Nam Ward and pilot selected activities.
From June to July 2026, the city will conduct and publish a survey on "Potential spaces for creative spaces, cultural industry centers, and cultural commerce and service development areas."
From April to September 2026, the city will announce and organize the competition "Awakening Urban Space" along with a series of talks and workshops.
From March to October 2026, creative networking activities will be expanded and operations of the coordination center for creative activities will be strengthened.
The festival, themed "Creative Economy," will open on November 20, 2026, and conclude on December 10, 2026, across five main zones: the Heritage Space in the Dong Xuan–Bac Qua area and Dong Xuan Cultural Industry Center; the Ke Cho (market) Space across the Hanoi Old Quarter's 36 streets; the Future Space in the citywide network of parks; the Ecological Space on the Red River's midstream island; and the Community Space across the entire city.
Participants will include the creative design community, creative businesses, investors, sponsors, training institutions, experts, artists, international partners, and the public.
Public communication and promotion of the festival and creative activities will run from January to December 2026.
The Department of Culture and Sports will serve as the standing agency and coordinate with the Vietnam Association of Architects, UNESCO Vietnam, UN-Habitat, city departments, district and town authorities, and relevant organizations to implement the plan in accordance with regulations.