The 2026 Hainan International Tourism Island Happy Island Festival will run from 18 July to 18 August across Hainan Province.
The 2026 festival arrives during Hainan’s first full summer under the island-wide special customs operations, which began on 18 December 2025. This gives the event added significance. It is not just a month of performances and entertainment, but also part of a wider push to connect tourism, shopping, food, transport discounts and Free Trade Port promotion across the island.
For foreign residents and international visitors, the easiest way to approach the festival is to focus on the main hubs.
Haikou has the opening activities at Changying Wonderland Park, major sports events at Wuyuanhe Sports Centre, concerts, shopping promotions as well as duty-free offers. Sanya adds another major concert stop, while Danzhou’s Haihua Island hosts the closing week. Together, these three cities offer the clearest and most practical festival route for visitors.
What is confirmed
The official theme of the 2026 festival is “Vibrant Free Trade Port, Charming Hainan Island.” The programme is organised around four broad sections: entertainment, water sports, food and shopping. Officials said more than 50 themed activities will be held across Hainan’s 18 cities and counties during the festival period.
The opening ceremony will be held at Haikou Changying wonderland Park. The closing activity, “Joy Continues,” will be held at Haihua Island in Danzhou.
The official programme covers the full island, but visitors planning around the festival should start with events that have confirmed dates, major venues, clear transport or published ticketing information. That means Haikou’s opening events, the Wuyuanhe sports and concert schedule, the Chen Chusheng concert in Sanya, and the Danzhou closing week.
Opening events at Haikou Changying Wonderland Park
Haikou Changying WonderlandPark (海口长影环球100奇幻乐园) will host the festival opening. The official report says the opening ceremony will include an immersive water-and-light show, aerial light performance, food interaction areas, tourism product displays and pet-friendly interactive spaces. The report also says the water-and-light show and related projects will continue after the festival.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism report says this year’s edition introduces several “firsts,” including an upgraded parade, province-wide bamboo pole dance, square dance and Danzhou Tiaosheng performances (儋州调声), a traditional folk singing and dance form from Danzhou, and cross-province tourism promotion activities linking Hainan with Chongqing, Guangdong, Fujian and Yunnan.
Visitors should treat “free admission” claims carefully. The available official and state-media reports confirm the opening venue and festival activity format, but individual ride passes, package prices, opening hours and any free-entry rules should be checked directly with Changying Park or the relevant Haikou tourism account.
Major concerts in Haikou and Sanya
The strongest international music draw is likely to be Chen Huixian, also known as Priscilla Chan. Her “The Fabulous 40 Priscilla Live” Haikou concert is scheduled for 15 August 2026 at Haikou Wuyuanhe Sports Centre Gymnasium. Hainan Online, citing Haikou Tourism, said tickets went on pre-sale on 6 June through platforms including Damai, Maoyan and Ctrip.
A separate ticketing report gives the Chen Huixian Haikou concert time as 19:30 and lists ticket prices from RMB 480 to RMB 1,380. Visitors should still confirm the latest availability and seating rules directly through the ticketing platform before making travel plans.
Be aware that 15 August is a Saturday and the venue is one of Haikou’s main event centres, and hotel or transport demand around west Haikou may be tighter than usual.
Sanya’s main confirmed concert is Chen Chusheng’s “Desolate Realm” 2026 tour stop on 25 July at Sanya City Sports Centre White Egret Stadium. The Sanya tourism site lists the performance date and venue and says tickets went on sale on 16 June at 18:00.
International sport at Wuyuanhe
Haikou’s Wuyuanhe Sports Centre is the festival’s main sports cluster. Official and state-media reports list the 4th World Wushu Taolu Cup, the Asian U18 Men’s Volleyball Championship and the 2026 FIBA International Solidarity Cup among the major sports events attached to this year’s festival period.
The Asian U18 Men’s Volleyball Championship is scheduled for 12 to 18 July at Haikou Wuyuanhe Sports Centre Gymnasium. China Daily’s Hainan channel reported that the event will bring 16 Asian youth teams to Haikou and that it is an Asian Volleyball Confederation competition.
Ticketing information for the Asian U18 Men’s Volleyball Championship has been reported with prices starting from RMB 19 for some sessions. Visitors should check the current ticketing platform before attending, as prices and availability can change by round and date.
The 2026 FIBA International Solidarity Cup is scheduled for 24 to 27 July at Wuyuanhe Stadium. A Haikou-linked event report says China, Georgia, Cameroon and Montenegro are the participating men’s national teams, with six games scheduled across 24, 25 and 27 July and 26 July listed as a rest day.
The currently available report lists Piaoxingqiu and the Aozhouhu official Douyin account as ticketing channels.
Food, shopping and visitor discounts
The festival’s food programme is built around Haikou, Sanya, Danzhou, Wenchang, Ding’an, Qionghai and Dongfang. Official reports identify Hainan-Guangdong food exchange and Hainan Zaopao vinegar hotpot as two main food themes.
For most international visitors, the easiest food-related events to use will be those that overlap with Haikou, Sanya or Danzhou travel plans. Those cities are already linked to the opening ceremony, major concerts, sports events and closing week, which makes them more practical than smaller county-level activations for visitors or expats on a short trip.
The shopping programme includes duty-free promotions, scenic-area discounts, hotel offers and retail vouchers. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism report says Hainan will upgrade its “air ticket plus hotel” consumption subsidy, with visitors able to receive a RMB 200 air-ticket reduction, a RMB 100 hotel reduction and duty-free shopping coupons.
Visitors should check the rules before relying on any subsidy or voucher. These schemes are usually distributed through Chinese apps, WeChat public accounts, ticketing platforms, travel platforms or merchant campaigns, and eligibility can depend on timing, identity verification, payment method, purchase channel or remaining voucher stock.
Danzhou closing week at Haihua Island
The festival’s closing activity, “Joy Continues,” will be held at Haihua Island in Danzhou. Official reports describe it as a Tiaosheng carnival-style closing event, using Danzhou’s local performance culture as the central element.
Details still to check before making plans
The 6th Asian Ocean Kayak Championship is listed as part of the festival’s water-sports season, but the currently available official festival reports do not give a confirmed date, host city or venue. Hainan’s ocean kayak event in 2025 was held in Haikou, in the waters near the Cloud Library. This article will be updated when a confirmed time and location are released.
The national beach sports invitational is also listed within the water-sports season, but the available public reports do not provide enough event-specific detail for visitors to plan around it. Anyone interested in individual water-sports fixtures should check the latest notices from the Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports.
Practical planning notes
For most foreign residents and international visitors, Haikou is the simplest festival base. Haikou has the opening ceremony, Changying Wonderland Park, Wuyuanhe concerts and sports, duty-free shopping, retail vouchers, night-market activity and the island’s strongest concentration of transport options.
Sanya is useful for the Chen Chusheng concert and southern-island holiday travel, while Danzhou is worth considering for visitors specifically interested in Haihua Island or the closing week. For the rest of the province-wide programme, visitors should check local schedules only if they are already travelling through that city or county.
Related article: Wushu’s Best Come to Haikou: A Guide to the 4th Taolu World Cup, 4–9 July
