How many days are left until the full moon of the seventh lunar month (Vu Lan Festival)? Countdown to the 15th day of the 7th lunar month 2026

The 15th day of the 7th lunar month is one of the important holidays in Vietnamese culture, associated with the Vu Lan festival (a festival honoring parents) and the Day of Atonement for Deceased Souls. In 2026, the full moon of the seventh lunar month will fall on Thursday, August 27th, 2026 (Gregorian calendar), which corresponds to the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, 2026.

Today Sunday, April 12, 2026, there are >only days left until the Full Moon of the 7th Lunar Month

How many days are left until the full moon of the seventh lunar month in 2026?

The 15th day of the 7th lunar month is one of the important holidays in Vietnamese spiritual culture, associated with the Vu Lan festival (a festival honoring parents and ancestors) and the Day of Atonement for Deceased Souls. It is an occasion for descendants to remember their ancestors, express their filial piety to their grandparents and parents, and pray for peace and well-being for their families.

According to the lunar calendar, July 2026 falls into:

• Lunar Calendar Date: July 15th, Year of the Fire Horse
• Gregorian calendar date: Thursday, August 27, 2026

Origin and meaning of the Vu Lan Festival in July

Source

In Buddhism, the seventh lunar month’s full moon originates from the story of Venerable Mục Kiền Liên rescuing his mother from the realm of hungry ghosts. According to legend, after attaining enlightenment, he used his supernatural powers to find his mother and discovered her suffering from hunger and thirst. The Buddha instructed him to make offerings to the monks on the full moon of the seventh lunar month to dedicate the merit, thereby saving his mother’s soul. From this story, the Vu Lan festival was born and became a day to show filial piety to parents.

In addition, in folklore, this day is also a festival for absolving the sins of the deceased. According to traditional beliefs, from the 2nd to the 14th day of the 7th lunar month, the Gate of Hell is opened, allowing spirits to return to the mortal world. On the 15th day of the lunar month, families usually prepare offerings of porridge, rice, salt, and sweets to give to homeless spirits, hoping they will find peace.

Meaning

The seventh lunar month, the Vu Lan festival, holds profound significance in Vietnamese culture, embodying filial piety, gratitude, and humanistic values. It’s an occasion for everyone to remember their families, honor their ancestors, and share compassion with those who have no one to rely on.

• Showing filial piety to parents: Honoring the gratitude for one’s parents’ upbringing and nurturing; it is an opportunity for children and grandchildren to express their filial piety to their parents, grandparents, and ancestors.
• The spirit of compassion and sharing: Show compassion for lonely souls who have no one to worship them, and pray for their souls to find peace.
• Family bonding: It is an occasion for family members to gather, prepare offerings together, and light incense to remember the deceased.
• Preserving traditional beauty: It helps preserve the nation’s long-standing spiritual rituals and cultural values across generations.

Activities and customs characteristic of the Mid-Autumn Festival (15th day of the 7th lunar month)

The 15th day of the 7th lunar month is a time when both Buddhist and folk beliefs converge, so the activities on this day are very rich and meaningful. Many people often look for the exact date of Vu Lan to arrange time to go to the temple, prepare offerings, and reunite with their families.

Important religious rituals

Traditionally, during the Vu Lan festival in the seventh lunar month, families perform three main rituals:

• Offering to Buddha: Offering vegetarian food is a way to pray for peace and health and to show reverence.
• Ancestor worship: Prepare a lavish meal to invite your ancestors to gather and remember their kindness in raising you.
• Offering to wandering souls (offering to hungry ghosts): Perform this ritual in the late afternoon or evening, in the yard or in front of the house, to offer alms to homeless spirits.

The offering tray for wandering souls usually includes thin porridge, rice and salt, sweets, popcorn, sugarcane, and paper money. After the offering, the homeowner will scatter rice and salt in four directions to bid farewell to the spirits.

Activities at the temple and in the community

This is an occasion when many people go to temples to pray for peace and to offer prayers for their ancestors and deceased relatives. A very characteristic ritual is the ceremony of pinning roses:

• Red flowers: still have both parents
• Pale pink roses: signify the loss of a parent.
• White flowers: lost both parents

In addition, many people also practice vegetarianism, do charity work, and release birds and fish to accumulate merit and pray for peace for their families.

Regional customs

The 15th day of the 7th lunar month in each region has its own unique cultural characteristics, creating richness in the traditional customs of the Vietnamese people. In Hue, the holiday is usually celebrated on a large scale with solemn memorial services at temples and major cemeteries.

For the Tay people, this is an occasion for family reunions, especially for daughters who have married and moved far away, bringing gifts to visit their maternal home. Meanwhile, some ethnic groups in the highlands still preserve traditional cakes that are only served on this occasion.

What does the offering tray for the 7th lunar month’s full moon include?

When preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival (the 15th day of the 7th lunar month), many families proactively prepare offerings early to ensure the rituals are complete and solemn. Typically, the offering tray will be divided into three separate offerings, each with its own meaning.

Offering tray for Buddha

This is an offering tray for families with a Buddhist altar at home, prepared solemnly to express deep reverence and a wish for peace and well-being for all family members. The offerings on the tray usually include:

• Fresh flowers: lotus, chrysanthemum, lily
• Five kinds of fruit
• Incense, candles, and clean water
• Sticky rice with gac fruit or sticky rice with beans
• Vegetarian spring rolls, vegetarian sausage
• Boiled vegetables, mushroom soup

The most special and important aspect of this offering is that all the dishes must be vegetarian, representing purity, sincerity, and compassion in accordance with Buddhist teachings.

Ancestral offering tray

The ancestral offering tray is a way for descendants to express their filial piety towards their ancestors, and at the same time invite their grandparents to return and reunite with the family on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. This is a traditional savory tray, meticulously prepared with:

• Whole boiled chicken
• Sticky rice with gac fruit or steamed sticky rice
• Not on him
• Stir-fried dishes such as beef stir-fried with celery or squid stir-fried with vegetables.
• Bamboo shoot soup, vermicelli soup
• Pork sausage or cinnamon sausage
• Tea, wine, fruit
• Paper offerings for the deceased

The ancestral offering tray is not only a meal offered to ancestors, but also an expression of gratitude, a connection between generations, and a reminder for descendants to always uphold the tradition of filial piety and the spirit of family reunion.

Offering tray for wandering souls (outdoors)

The offering ceremony for wandering souls is usually performed in the late afternoon, from around 5 PM to 7 PM, in the yard or on the sidewalk, for homeless spirits. Preparing this offering with sincerity will help the spirits find peace, while also bringing peace and good fortune to the family. The offering tray was fully prepared with:

• 12 bowls of thin white rice porridge
• Rice and salt
• Popcorn, candy
• Boiled potatoes, boiled corn
• Tight
• Colorful paper clothes
• Paper money
• Real money in small denominations
• Clean water, incense, candles

Prayer for the Full Moon of the Seventh Lunar Month

To prepare for the Vu Lan festival properly, many families research the timing of the festival and the appropriate prayer beforehand. The prayer doesn’t need to be elaborate; the most important thing is sincerity and solemnity. Below is a sample prayer for reference:

“Namo Amitabha Buddha!” (3 times, 3 prostrations)

Today, the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, during the Vu Lan festival (a Buddhist festival honoring parents), our family sincerely prepares offerings of incense, flowers, and other items to present before the altar. We respectfully invite our ancestors, both paternal and maternal, and all departed spirits to partake in these offerings, witness our sincerity, and bless our family with peace, health, and success in all endeavors. We also dedicate the merits of this offering to all departed souls who have no one to rely on, so that they may be reborn in the Pure Land.

Namo Amitabha Buddha! (3 times, 3 prostrations)“

Part Prayers should be recited with reverence; they don’t need to be overly elaborate, but they should be solemn.

Notes in Vu Lan Festival, Full Moon of the Seventh Month

To ensure that the rituals during the Mid-Autumn Festival (15th day of the 7th lunar month) are performed completely and solemnly, families should be aware of the following things to do and things to avoid:

• Offer the sacrifices in the correct order: First, offer prayers to Buddha, then to the ancestors, and finally to the spirits of the outdoors.
• Place it in the correct position: The ancestral altar is placed inside the house, while the altar for wandering spirits is placed outside in the yard or in front of the door.
• You should visit your parents and grandparents: This is the core meaning of the Vu Lan season.
• Be a vegetarian and do good deeds: It helps to purify the mind and accumulate merit.
• Going to the temple to pray for peace: We pray for health and peace for our loved ones and for the salvation of our ancestors.
• Avoid picking up money that has fallen on the street: According to folk beliefs, it could be money offered as a tribute to the spirits of the deceased.
• Limit going out at night: Especially after 10 PM, to ensure safety and avoid misfortune according to spiritual beliefs.
• Do not step on offerings left in the street: This is a way of showing respect to the spirits.
• After the offering to wandering spirits: You should sprinkle rice and salt from inside the house outwards to bid farewell to the spirits.
• How to burn votive paper offerings correctly: Perform the ceremony in a clean, safe place to complete it with solemnity.

Summary

Vu Lan Festival 2026 is not only an occasion for everyone to remember their ancestors and express filial piety to their parents, but also a time to preserve the beautiful traditional cultural values of the nation. Let’s prepare early so that the festival takes place completely, meaningfully, and brings peace to the family.