Expanding creative spaces at the Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2026

On the afternoon of December 10th, the Hanoi Children's Palace hosted the Announcement Ceremony of the Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2026's Activity Framework and the Launch of the Hanoi Creative Space Network. The event was directed by the Hanoi People's Committee and the Vietnam Association of Architects; organized by the Department of Culture and Sports and Architecture Magazine, with the support of UNESCO, Sovico Group, and many other organizations.

Attending the event were: Standing Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi City Party Committee Nguyen Van Phong, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi City People's Committee Vu Thu Ha, along with representatives from central ministries and agencies, and departments and agencies of Hanoi city.

Continuing the journey of building a Creative City.

In 2019, Hanoi was inscribed by UNESCO in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), becoming the 246th Creative City in the world and the 32nd capital city recognized in the field of Creative Design. To date, the Network has expanded to 408 members. Since then, Hanoi has implemented numerous innovation and integration plans based on the principle of: "Taking creativity and the creative economy as the core of the process of developing a dynamic, comprehensive, and sustainable city."

The Hanoi Architectural Heritage Festival has gradually affirmed its unique identity through themes deeply rooted in contemporary culture, specifically: “Unleashing Creativity - 2021: New Life for Heritage”; “Design and Technology - 2022: Creativity - Contribution - For the Community”; “Connecting Flows and Creative Heritage - 2023: Design - Community - Creativity”; “Creative Crossroads - 2024: Dialogue between Heritage Architecture and Contemporary Art”.

Continuing the creative flow from the community, following the events, the Hanoi Creative Economy Festival not only revives forgotten heritage, connects young people and the community, but more importantly, has gathered resources, exploited potential, and promoted policies for the development of the creative economy in the capital city.

Based on this, the Hanoi TKST Festival 2026 is envisioned to become an urban innovation institution, a place for the convergence, testing, and dissemination of new ideas. In 2026, the Hanoi TKST Festival will shift from "Organizing a festival" to "Building an urban innovation ecosystem" with an interdisciplinary mindset, connecting visual arts - design - technology - architecture - sound - data - crafts - performance… creating multi-sensory experiences, new art forms, and interactive spaces with an international character.

Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi City Party Committee Nguyen Van Phong, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi City People's Committee Vu Thu Ha and the Organizing Committee took a commemorative photo with the Hanoi creative team.

Speaking at the event, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Vu Thu Ha emphasized: The Hanoi Creative Innovation Festival 2026 will be organized as a series of rich activities, aiming to create a strong and sustainable creative ecosystem. Hanoi hopes that projects, ideas, and specific actions aimed at exploiting and promoting cultural values; tangible and intangible cultural heritage; traditional craft villages… will become creative projects with commercial potential and long-term development, contributing to spreading the spirit of creativity and improving the quality of life for the people.

Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Vu Thu Ha delivers a speech. Photo: HL

“Creative design activities are not limited to works of art and design products, but include: urban design, public space design, social welfare, community design, proposing creative ideas to overcome bottlenecks in the city (urban order, environmental pollution, urban and suburban flooding, traffic congestion, food safety)... Ideas that contribute to improving the quality of life with people at the center,” said Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Vu Thu Ha.

Many new creative spaces

The organizers announced that the Hanoi Creative Design Festival will be held every two years; the main activities will take place in November each year. The Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2026 will run from January to November.

Mr. Jonathan Wallace Baker, Head of the UNESCO Office in Vietnam, delivered a speech.
HL Photo

The main activities in the festival are oriented towards building a creative economy – a center for connecting, forum-based, and testing creative economic models, specifically in the following areas: Creative Exhibitions; Creative Fairs; Creative Forums; Creative Competitions; Creative Projects; Creative Design Awards; Creative Fund; and Creative Infrastructure.

Several creative bamboo-themed spaces set up inside the Hanoi Children's Palace attract visitors to experience them. Photo: Hoang Lan

What sets this year's festival apart is the spread of creative spirit throughout the city, with the festival being divided into distinct zones:

Heritage Space (Dong Xuan Market - Bac Qua area and Dong Xuan Cultural Industry Center): The central area of ​​the Festival, where creators and designers arrange and integrate heritage with creativity; piloting a model of a commercial and cultural development zone; connecting artisans - designers - small traders, forming a heritage-creativity-commerce experience route…

The Old Quarter (Hanoi's Old Quarter with 36 streets): Reviving the "Market - Street - Craft" space; creating "Creative Streets" corresponding to cultural industries, including experiential spaces for exhibitions, performances, and interactions, connecting the life of craft streets with Hanoi's system of elite craft villages.

Future Spaces (Network of parks across the city): Playgrounds for students; public design spaces, international pavilions, competitions, workshops, creative camps, and community activities.

Ecological space (Red River sandbar): Pilot project on "Urban-ecological symbiosis"; a space for experimenting with unique ideas, prioritizing landscape art, local materials, and circular design; research on a waterway experience route on the Red River.

Community spaces (citywide): Spreading the spirit of creativity; developing creative economic models; encouraging participation from embassies, international organizations; cultural centers, historical sites, universities, creative spaces, exhibitions, museums, theaters, restaurants, cafes… proactively organizing activities or supporting the artistic community.

Speaking at the announcement ceremony, Jonathan Wallace Baker, Head of the UNESCO Office in Vietnam, affirmed: “The shift from a festival to building a creative ecosystem will create sustainable opportunities for designers, artists, creative businesses, students, and the community. From there, creativity becomes a shared practice – where everyone participates, creates together, and integrates it into daily life.”

“UNESCO wholeheartedly supports Hanoi’s creative journey and is delighted to accompany the City on its path to becoming a space of imagination, connection and innovation,” said Jonathan Wallace Baker.

The Hanoi TKST Festival 2026 will kick off with the "Creative Gathering" event, held in early January 2026 at Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square and the Hoan Kiem area of ​​Hanoi, featuring a unique interdisciplinary artistic connection.

At the Announcement Ceremony of the Hanoi Creative Cultural Spaces Festival 2026 Framework, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports announced the Decision and awarded Certificates of Hanoi Creative Cultural Space to 82 creative cultural spaces that fully met the criteria according to the set of criteria for classifying and evaluating spaces participating in the Hanoi Creative Cultural Spaces Network.

This event marks Hanoi's efforts to affirm the importance and role of the creative community in building a community ecosystem – a new step on the journey to building a sustainable and inspiring creative city.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/mo-rong-nhieu-khong-gian-sang-tao-tai-le-hoi-thiet-design-sang-tao-ha-noi-2026-726338.html