A multi-sensory experience at the Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2026

The Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2026 is envisioned to become an urban creative institution, a place for the convergence, testing, and dissemination of new ideas, contributing to improving the quality of life for the people of Hanoi.

In 2026, the Hanoi Creative Design Festival will shift from "Organizing a festival" to "Building an urban creative 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.

This information was released at the Announcement Ceremony of the Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2026 Framework and the Launch of the Hanoi Creative Space Network, which took place on December 10th in Hanoi.

The Hanoi Creative Design 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. This event will feature unique interdisciplinary artistic connections, aiming to bring together a network of creative spaces, propose diverse activities and innovative, practical ideas, and call upon all resources to participate in the festival, ultimately building a social innovation ecosystem to serve the development of the cultural industry in the capital city.

The Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2026 is envisioned to transcend a mere annual cultural and artistic event or a typical festival – aiming to become an urban creative institution, a place for the convergence, experimentation, and dissemination of new ideas, contributing to improving the quality of life for the people of Hanoi.

The main activities of 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 Expo; Creative Fair; Creative Talk; Creative Challenge; Creative Project; Creative & Design Awards; Creative Funds; and Creative Hubs.

The venues participating in the Festival will continue to be updated and expanded to promote the creative ideas of artists and the community, encourage pilot projects for the development of the Creative Economy and tourism , and aim to sustain and develop them into long-term projects that contribute to economic development, improve the quality of life, and beautify the city.

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

Heritage Space (Dong Xuan Market-Bac Qua area and Dong Xuan Cultural Industry Center): This is the central area of ​​the Festival, where creators and designers will arrange and integrate heritage with creativity, piloting a model of a commercial and cultural development zone, connecting artisans, designers, and small traders to form a heritage-creative commercial experience route… Transforming a traditional market into a market of the new era of creative economy.

The pedestrian area around Hoan Kiem Lake attracts tourists. (Photo: VNA)

The Old Quarter (Hanoi's Old Quarter with 36 streets): This area revives the "Market - Street - Craft" space: creating "Creative Streets" corresponding to various 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 Space (Network of parks in the city): Activities such as "Creative Education - Future Skills" - This is a playground for students of all levels to participate; public design spaces, international pavilions, competitions, outdoor playgrounds/Fablabs, workshops, creative camps for youth experimentation, and community activities.

Sandbar in the middle of the Red River. (Source: VNA)

Ecological Space (mid-river sandbar of the Red River): With the desire to pilot a "urban-ecological symbiosis" area, this is a space for testing unique ideas, prioritizing landscape art, using local materials - circular design - seasonal experiences; researching a waterway experience route on the Red River.

Community Space (throughout the city): Fostering a spirit of collaborative creative activities, developing innovative economic models, and encouraging the participation of embassies, international organizations; cultural centers, historical and cultural spaces in wards and communes; shopping malls, universities, creative spaces, exhibitions, museums, theaters, restaurants, cafes… proactively organizing activities or supporting the artistic community with venues and co-organizing activities.

At the ceremony announcing the framework for the Hanoi Creative Design Festival 2026, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports announced the Decision and awarded Certificates of Hanoi Creative Cultural Space to 82 cultural spaces that fully met the criteria.

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.

In 2019, Hanoi was inscribed by UNESCO in the Global Creative Cities Network, becoming the 246th Creative City in the world and the 32nd capital city recognized in the field of Creative Design. To date, this network has expanded to 408 members.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/trai-nghiem-da-giac-quan-tai-le-hoi-thiet-design-sang-tao-ha-noi-nam-2026-post1082389.vnp