A highlight of the Radiant Hà Nội – Light and Heritage is the use of cutting-edge tools at the event. Photos courtesy of Hà Nội Department of Culture and Sports.

HÀ NỘI — Radiant Hà Nội – Light and Heritage is a dazzling exhibition not to be missed, offering a standout cultural and artistic highlight as 2025 draws to a close and 2026 approaches.

The exhibition employs digital projection, lighting, interactive elements and multimedia technologies to vividly and evocatively narrate stories of Hà Nội's history, memories and cultural life, while marking an experimental advancement in preserving and spreading the capital’s cultural heritage.

"Hà Nội, a capital with a thousand-year history, is a centre of many layers of unique cultural and historical heritage which is not only present in monuments, architectural works, or traditional festivals, but also vibrant in urban life, in community memory, and in the city's aspirations for development," said Lê Thị Ánh Mai, deputy director of the Hà Nội Department of Culture and Sports.

Delegates officially open the exhibition on December 26.

"The challenge facing us today is how to make these heritage values ​​accessible, appealing, and suitable for the tastes of today's audiences. How we combine creative and modern approaches while still preserving the cultural values and attracting attention of the public, especially young generations.

"The exhibition space “Radiant Hanoi” - Light and Heritage” is the answer," she said.

Unlike traditional display formats, the event embraces a “living heritage” concept, allowing visitors not just to observe but to actively interact and immerse themselves in the displays. For the first time, Hà Nội's history and cultural legacy are showcased via cutting-edge tools like immersive 3D mapping, kinetic LED systems, interactive walls and virtual reality.

Content centres on the defining elements of Hà Nội's identity: its millennium-long historical tradition, unique urban landscapes, vibrant folk culture, and ambitions for a dynamic, creative capital in the digital age.

A corner of the exhibition space,

"Light and technology are used to tell the story of Thăng Long-Hà Nội. Through interactive experiences, virtual reality, and images of the past and present, we "wake up" heritage with motion and sound. This connects the past naturally with the future," Mai said.

"We expect that, the exhibition will be another attractive cultural destination to visit for local residents and tourists. At the same time, they will gain new experiences and raise awareness, sentiment, and a sense of responsibility in preserving, conserving, and promoting cultural heritage values.

"This will also serve as a practical basis for the city to continue researching and replicating creative cultural exhibition and performance models, in line with the orientation of building Hà Nội into a Creative City according to the UNESCO network."

The exhibition is divided into different spaces for experiencing and interacting, where audiences will go through a historic journey of Hà Nội,

Beautiful images made of technology and art.

In the “Radiant Heart”, LED kinetic technology is used to create rhythmically moving light blocks that symbolise the heartbeat of the capital. Programmed in a contemporary design language, their motion connects the essence of a thousand years of history with today’s creative pulse.

In the "thousand-year Thăng Long”, the Immersive 3D Mapping technology is applied using projectors to create highly realistic, interactive, and multi-sensory digital environments that merge digital content with the physical world. 

Visitors will admire slide shows of iconic cultural symbols such as the bronze drums and Lạc bird, lotus flower, Red River, and the Lý-Trần Dynasty's dragons on silk. The combination of traditional materials and modern technology creates a space that is both real and virtual, rich in aesthetic depth and emotion. 

Hà Nội in the future under the combination of light and technology

The "Global City-Hà Nội 2050" area features an Interactive Wall that allows viewers to interact and create images of the future capital city with elements of smart cities, green transportation, green spaces, and digital infrastructure. This area conveys the message that people are at the centre of innovation and digital transformation, and are the subjects shaping the city's future.

Visitors at the "360 ​​Hà Nôi" area.

The virtual reality application in the "360 ​​Hà Nôi" takes the public on a "journey" through digital space to iconic heritage sites such as Thăng Long Imperial Citadel, Temple of Literature, traditional festivals, and the urban landscape of the city.

Visitors can also directly observe the transformation of Hà Nội's landmarks, heritage sites, and urban spaces from the past to the present, creating contemplative moments of interplay in the "Window of Time".

Part of traditional Tết is created at the exhibition,

Last but not least, "The Soul of the Old Tết" area applies motion recognition technology, helping the characters in Hàng Trống folk paintings "come to life" and interact with viewers, evoking the atmosphere of traditional Tết and the folk culture of Hà Nội.

The exhibition is open to the public free of charge until further notice at 93 Đinh Tiên Hoàng Street, Hoàn Kiếm Ward. VNS