Live Performances in Vietnam: The 15 Worth Your Day

1.Water Puppet Show Tickets

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 7,029 reviews · 50 min · from $7Our pick

Reserve a 50-minute Hanoi Water Puppet Show and collect your physical ticket at 31 Lo Su, 30 minutes before the performance. You can choose a show time and seat category, then watch Vietnamese folk tales, village scenes, legends, live music, and skilled puppetry. An English audio guide and other languages cost 50,000 VND at the theater.

“Thoroughly enchanting It lasts about 45-50 mins The puppet show is funny and educational and the music is wonderful”

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2.Water Puppet Show Ticket with Hotel Delivery Add-On

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 1,554 reviews · 50 min · from $7

You’ll watch a 50-minute water puppet performance at Hanoi’s Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre, where Vietnamese legends, village life, music, and singing unfold on a water stage. Collect physical tickets at Charming Vietnam Travel 30 minutes early, or choose hotel delivery. The show is in Vietnamese, with an optional audio guide available at the theatre.

“Was a good experience to listen to traditional folk songs and watching the show”

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3.Hoi An Memories Show & Hoi An Impression Theme Park Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 1,146 reviews · from $9

Spend the evening at Hoi An Impression Theme Park, explore its themed village and small performances, then watch the 60-minute Hoi An Memories Show. The outdoor production uses ao dai costumes, music, lighting, props, and hundreds of performers to tell 400 years of Hoi An's story. Arrive early for the park and choose a good seat.

“Beautiful show displaying the history of Vietnam. Their resilience and elegance emanates throughout the show. Mesmerising!”

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4.Thang Long Water Puppet Show Ticket – Skip The Line

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 836 reviews · 50 min · from $7

Collect your reserved Thang Long Water Puppet Show tickets at 78 Hang Quat, then walk to Hanoi’s famous theater for a 50-minute performance of Vietnamese legends, village life, music, and comic puppetry. The show is in Vietnamese, with optional audio guides for 50,000 VND. Staff members including Tony and Penelope have provided helpful ticket support.

“Overall good experience, just some annoying people filming with their phones often block the view. Maybe filming should not be allowed.”

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5.Thang Long Water Puppet Show Entry Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 329 reviews · 1 hour · from $8

Spend one hour at Hanoi’s Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre watching puppets farm, fish, flirt, and play across a water stage. The Vietnamese-language performance uses live musicians, singers, and puppeteers to bring legends and daily life to life. Choose a showtime, arrive 15 minutes early, and collect your ticket from staff at the theater.

“it was dynamic, powerful and singers have an incredible voice. I recommand :)”

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6.Hoi An Memories Land Entry Ticket with Show

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 153 reviews · 1 day · from $27

Spend the day at Hoi An Impression Theme Park, explore Kuha Island, catch small cultural shows, then watch Hoi An Memories Show on a 27,000-square-foot stage in the Hoai River. More than 500 performers combine dance, music, lighting, costumes, and technology to tell Hoi An’s story.

“Easy booking. Excellent show. Such a beautuful way to tell a history story!”

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7.Full-Day City Tour and Water Puppet Show

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 107 reviews · from $52

Spend a full day touring Hanoi with an English-speaking guide, visiting Tran Quoc Pagoda, the Ho Chi Minh complex, One Pillar Pagoda, the Temple of Literature, and a museum. Lunch is included, followed by a 50-minute water puppet show near Sword Lake. Guides such as Tu, Tommy, Lee, and Son have earned praise for clear explanations and helpful service.

“Overall it’s a nice city tour. Our guide Lee was very knowledgeable and he constantly gave information about his country’s and city’s history. The lunch was tasty and the transportation was good.”

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8.Dinner with Symphony Show And Firework Of Kiss Of The Sea

★★★★★★★★★★3.7 · 99 reviews · 30 minutes - 4 hours · from $26

Spend an evening at Sun Bavaria GastroPub with a private table, dinner, one craft beer, and views of Phu Quoc’s sea shows. You’ll watch Symphony of the Sea when it runs from November to April, then see Kiss of the Sea and fireworks from the restaurant. Online guide support and optional transfers are available.

“A very expensive and strange experience. 1. Voucher could not be used on site. A new one was sent via WhatsApp 20 mkn before start. 2. Was contacted via WhatsApp and informed that the price was 500K vd (15 €) more expensive. 3. The booked private table with the best view was a location at the back among larger groups. Unfortunately the experience was thus both unimpressive and bad”

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9.Hoi An Memories Show and Hoi An Impression Theme Park Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 82 reviews · 1 hour · from $24

Spend the evening at Hoi An Impression Theme Park before watching the one-hour Memories Show, a large outdoor production with 500 actors, music, costumes, lighting, and five acts covering 400 years of Hoi An’s past. Your ECO seat ticket includes park entry, with no guide or hotel transfer provided.

“Such an amazing experience, a lovely and fun way to learn about the history of hoi an. The light show is just something else, we couldn’t have been happier we got to see this show”

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10.Ho Chi Minh City by Night including Water Puppet Show and Dinner on cruise

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 59 reviews · from $82Top rated

Spend an evening with two classic Ho Chi Minh City experiences: a Vietnamese water puppet show at the Golden Dragon Theater and a two-hour dinner cruise on the Saigon River. An English-speaking guide and private air-conditioned vehicle handle the evening, with hotel pickup at 5:45 pm and return around 10 pm. Julia and Ming are among the guides praised for helpful service.

“Fantastic tour guide. A very entertaining evening! Highly recommended.”

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11.Half-Day City Tour with Thang Long Water Puppet Show

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 48 reviews · from $7

Visit Tran Quoc Pagoda, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and the Temple of Literature with an English-speaking guide, then finish at Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre. The $7 option includes transport, entrance fees, and a 50-minute show. You can also book the show ticket alone, with several times available.

“It is expensive, the ticket price is 100.000 vnd and it is easy to buy tickets at the entrance. Here you pay double. The show itself is really beautiful and amazing, highly recommend doing it when visiting Hanoi.”

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12.Life Puppets show – Đó Theatre Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 47 reviews · 1 day · from $16

At Đó Theatre in Nha Trang, you’ll watch Life Puppets, a multi-chapter performance combining Vietnamese water puppetry, string figures, shadow scenes, animated puppets, contemporary dance, and ethnic instrumental music. The show tells a survival story through visual performance, making it a strong evening choice for adults, families with older children, and anyone curious about modern Vietnamese theatre.

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13.Water Puppet Show Entry Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 38 reviews · 50 min · from $5Best value

At Hanoi’s Lotus Water Puppet Theater, you’ll watch a 50-minute Vietnamese folk show built around rural life, legends, music, dragons, and comic character Teu. Your reserved ticket helps you skip the ticket queue, and a multilingual program explains the acts. Pick from several showtimes, but arrive 10 minutes early to collect your ticket.

“The show was beautiful and the performer very talented. However, we paid more for better seats and were placed in the second to the last row. So that was very frustrating.”

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14.Perfume River Dinner Cruise with Traditional Show

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 38 reviews · 1 - 2 hours · from $15

Board a VIP dragon boat at 49 Le Loi Street for an evening on Hue’s Perfume River. You’ll enjoy traditional Hue singing, an optional eight-course dinner, complimentary drinks, costume photos, and a flower-lantern release. The boat has an air-conditioned cabin, though the route is fairly short and includes a return to collect performers and passengers.

“Le prix reste assez élevé mais l'activité est super. nous avons bien mangé une série de plusieurs plats, pas très copieux. Le bateau fait plusieurs aller retours entre deux ponts . un groupe de musique traditionnel rejoint le bateau et c'est très sympa. on peut enfiler des costumes traditionnels pour toute la durée du repas.”

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15.Saigon Evening: Water Puppet Show & Dinner Cruise Experience

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 38 reviews · from $72

Start at 6:00 pm with District 1 hotel pickup, then watch a 45-minute Golden Dragon water puppet show before dinner aboard a classic junk boat. Tom and driver Jerry have handled transfers for some departures. Choose Vietnamese or Western food, but allow for a quick cruise and limited time for views while dining.

“The water puppet show was very entertaining Even though the commentary wasn’t in English we grasped the meaning It was very well presented The river cruise not so great A very quick dash about 45 minutes sailing total there and back Read more”

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