Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater

Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater

Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater
4
About
Generations ago, Vietnamese puppeteers performed for their rural communities in waist-deep water, bringing to life legends and stories about their region. Water puppetry theaters like Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater continue that tradition into the modern day and are a fun, family-friendly way to experience a hallmark of traditional Vietnamese culture.water puppet show, which is closely associated with the spiritual life of Vietnamese people, especially in the countryside. The show’s chosen stage is the surface of a water pool. The puppeteers present their clever skills in managing puppets by long bamboo rods and string mechanism under the surface. A traditional Vietnamese orchestra is an excellent music accompaniment. The puppets depict the story from the songs during the show, which reflects the peaceful life of the Vietnamese countryside, so it is not too difficult to understand it.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Admission tickets
from
£12.02
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater
The area
Reach out directly
See what travellers are saying
  • 767-767
    Oslo, Norway163 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent, very interesting
    Very interesting performance, well worth the visit. Ticket price 300,000. Show times at 5pm and 6:30pm. They do allocate you fixed seating, about which they did not inform. If you want a better seat perhaps try to sort that at the time of ticket purchase.
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled solo
    Written 10 December 2023
  • Erin S
    5 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great show, less than optimal viewing conditions
    The show itself was very entertaining, at least what I could see of it. In Australia almost all performances have a no recording policy and I now appreciate why... Watched at least 20% of the show through the phone cameras of audience members in front of us who videoed almost every scene. Would also advise against bringing children <5 if they are likely to be bored and make it other people’s problem. Puppeteers and musicians were extremely talented, just wish we could’ve immersed ourselves better.
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 16 December 2023
  • W L
    4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Must see
    This is a wonderful show in Saigon and we really enjoyed this. Water puppet is a traditional Vietnamese form of entertainment. Hard work for the actors, they controlled the puppets in water. Recommendable destination.
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 25 December 2023
  • mrc282
    World9,133 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    water puppet joy
    the water puppet show originates from northern vietnam originally, but as it has become almost symbolic with the country, you can watch it in almost every major city these days. i went onsite to the box office to buy a ticket, but was told it is sold out 4 days in advance. went home and got online and saw a ticket is still available on klook, so i quickly grab one. i believe the show tickets on klook are tickets resold by travel agency who bought them in bulk from box office, so there will be slight upcharge (20,000 VND). the ticket price is 300,000 VND if purchase direct from box office keep in mind that the front rows (rows A, B, C, D) and center section (seat number 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) will experience some risk of water splashing during the performance. imo, the best seating are center section, but in the rows after that, so rows E, F, G, and beyond if you have an online voucher like i do (e.g., from klook), you can go a little earlier before the show begin to try to secure good seating, but you are limited to swapping tickets with another traveling party of the same size (e.g., party of two can swap tickets with another group of party of two). you are not allowed to randomly choose seat the entire performance is narrated in vietnamese, but it is possible to grasp the story even without understanding the language
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled solo
    Written 3 January 2024
  • Tarmum
    London, United Kingdom630 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Ruined by selfish use of videos
    This was a wonderful show. Quite unique and entertaining and 45 mins was just about right. BUT experience was totally ruined by large numbers of people blocking views of others by video recording on their phones. Totally unnecessary and rude. Sadly staff made no attempt to stop this. It’s an ancient tradition ruined by modern technology. Quite a few people left during the show. No idea why. Maybe they expected something different? Couldn’t stand the blocked views. Either way this is a lovely way to enjoy a traditional show. BUT PUT YOUR PHoNES AWAY!
    Visited February 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 21 February 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles1,659 reviews
Excellent
700
Very good
642
Average
227
Poor
52
Terrible
38

Joel K
Vancouver, Canada3,738 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2019
Water puppetry has been going since 1200 years BCE in Vietnam. The stories that the puppets tell are many - farm life, harvesting rice, battles on the sea. Half of the puppeteers body is underwater behind a set. They operate the puppets with poles under the water. A very interesting and creative show.
Written 12 April 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

DGGmo
London, UK393 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
Thoroughly enjoyed my trip to this theatre to see the traditional Water Puppets show. It is walking distance (10 mins) from the War Remnants museum and was a great pick-me-up after four hours learning about the terrible events and impact of the American War.

There are a couple of showings each day - at 5 and 6pm when I visited but probably subject to change, and you can buy your ticket direct at the box office (cash only).

The show lasted about 35 minutes and was in Vietnamese, with the singers playing the instruments too. An ancient art in Vietnam, the stories are easy to follow and very entertaining.
Written 7 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Davethepubsinger
Tenerife, Spain270 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2021
My wife and I were staying in a hotel near by in Feb2020 and obtained our tickets by going to the box office the day before the performance. We paid £10 for our tickets. We were allocated seats in the third row. On arrival we were greeted by ushers dressed in traditional silk tunics who escorted us to our seats. The theatre quickly filled up, but it was annoying that they let people in after the performance had started. The shows are performed entirely in Vietnamese but the plots are easy to understand. There was a programme given out with printed explanatory notes in English. An orchestra was positioned either side of the stage and played traditional instruments to accompany the puppets dancing across the water stage. The shows recount Vietnamese folk tales, legends, and significant seasonal events, like the celebration of the rice harvest, which were depicted in a humorous fashion.
The Puppets are an amazing variety of weird and wonderful creatures, animals and even insects which dance in the water. We found the theatre to be clean and cool. The show was excellently choreographed and lasted about an hour. It was well worth the money and I would recommend it for all ages.
Written 21 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

mrc282
World9,133 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2023 • Solo
the water puppet show originates from northern vietnam originally, but as it has become almost symbolic with the country, you can watch it in almost every major city these days.

i went onsite to the box office to buy a ticket, but was told it is sold out 4 days in advance. went home and got online and saw a ticket is still available on klook, so i quickly grab one. i believe the show tickets on klook are tickets resold by travel agency who bought them in bulk from box office, so there will be slight upcharge (20,000 VND). the ticket price is 300,000 VND if purchase direct from box office

keep in mind that the front rows (rows A, B, C, D) and center section (seat number 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) will experience some risk of water splashing during the performance. imo, the best seating are center section, but in the rows after that, so rows E, F, G, and beyond

if you have an online voucher like i do (e.g., from klook), you can go a little earlier before the show begin to try to secure good seating, but you are limited to swapping tickets with another traveling party of the same size (e.g., party of two can swap tickets with another group of party of two). you are not allowed to randomly choose seat

the entire performance is narrated in vietnamese, but it is possible to grasp the story even without understanding the language

Written 3 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Karin P
Potchefstroom, South Africa49 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
It is so important that cultural treasures like this theatre form, get preserved and appreciated. Especially when they remain entertaining. The puppet show is skillful and clever, with an enthusiastic and authentic cast who keep visitors entertained despite language barriers. This is a must-do for cultural tourists to the city and any theatre enthusiast.
Written 11 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Seth L
Colorado Springs, CO140 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Solo
I heard about water puppets from the tourism guides and videos I consumed, so I decided to go with my buddy to watch a show, and I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised. Water puppets are a traditional Vietnamese form of entertainment where puppeteers control their puppets using underwater poles. I though they were controlled by robots at first, but when I realized that it was all manual labor, I was impressed by how well they maintained the illusion. About the show itself, it was all in Vietnamese, but the stories were pretty easy to follow, the performances were very funny, and the traditional music gave the performances a nice folkloric flair. Even from simply watching one of the performances, I felt I leanred a lot about the traditional Vietnamese culture. Do me a favor; do not leave Vietnam until you've gone to at least one performance!
Written 23 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Utepil
Vuorela, Finland367 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Couples
Tradional Vietnamese culture. "Not seeing water puppet show, not seeing Vietnam ". Amazing how they can syncronize the movements of many puppets with music. Hard work for the "actors", they are standing 40 minutes in water. Recommendable destination.
Written 5 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ali921
Edinburgh, UK1,479 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2022
Prepare to be amazed. Sometimes when you visit another country and go you see a cultural show it can be embarrassing, this is not the case here. This is something unique to this country. It is hard to understand how the puppets are controlled when there are so many of them out in the water at the same time. You can't understand each story but there is an element of humour in some of the sketches. Go and see it, it's superb. Buy the tickets direct or check the price so you know if any discounts offered by touts are genuine.
Written 12 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Erin S
5 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2023 • Couples
The show itself was very entertaining, at least what I could see of it. In Australia almost all performances have a no recording policy and I now appreciate why... Watched at least 20% of the show through the phone cameras of audience members in front of us who videoed almost every scene. Would also advise against bringing children <5 if they are likely to be bored and make it other people’s problem. Puppeteers and musicians were extremely talented, just wish we could’ve immersed ourselves better.
Written 17 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

often_crabby-travele
Saint Paul, MN421 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2022 • Couples
I first saw this type of entertainment in hanoi. This show was far more elaborate with 8 performers and six musicians. It was a wow from the start. Learn a little about the form before you go and you'll get more out of it. Water puppetry in Vietnam has been around more than 1000 years!
Written 21 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 1,229
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

GOLDEN DRAGON WATER PUPPET THEATER (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

All Ho Chi Minh City HotelsHo Chi Minh City Hotel DealsLast Minute Hotels in Ho Chi Minh City
All things to do in Ho Chi Minh City
Day Trips in Ho Chi Minh City
RestaurantsFlightsHoliday RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesCar Hire