At 9 PM on July 31, the night sky over Haikou shone bright. At Bayin Lake in the main venue of the 2026 (27th) Hainan Island Carnival - Hainan Changying Wonderland, thousands of brightly lit drones and thousands of fireworks soared through the air as part of the grand finale of the Carnival’s drone and fireworks show.

The audience enjoys the spectacle at Hainan Changying Wonderland on July 31.

This year’s Hainan Island Carnival opened on July 18th under the theme ‘Vibrant Free Trade Port, Charming Hainan Island’. The fun isn’t limited to Changying Wonderland though - there are over 50 different themed activities being held across Hainan’s 18 cities and counties, each with a unique vibe, spreading the Carnival joy to every part of the island.

July Kicked Off the Fun Across Hainan

📍In Lingshui, the ‘Ocean Sounds Music Season’ began on July 4th at Hainan Ocean Paradise Resort, and will continue through Aug. 31st. For 59 days, the entire park is ‘singing’ - dolphins, beluga whales, penguins, sea lions, polar bears, sea turtles, and seals... each week features a different marine animal as a musical motif. The meerkats, marmots, raccoons, and flamingos have also moved into new homes, with four new animal enclosures making their debut.

On July 16, a deep-sea hip-hop evening parade was held at Hainan Ocean Paradise Resort.

Visitors enjoyed the ‘Ocean Sounds’ event at Hainan Ocean Paradise Resort on July 16.

📍In Chengmai, Fushan Coffee Culture Town is hosting the ‘Cool Friends Life Festival’ every weekend from July 25th to August 31st, combining music, markets, movies, sports, and shopping, cleverly blending local coffee culture with vacation experiences.

The Chengmai ‘Cool Friends Life Festival’ poster.

Every Saturday evening from July 18th to August 8th, the ‘Summer Mango Fragrance, Summer Night Fun’ beach party will be held at 📍Changjiang’s Dajiao Park in Chess Bay. Professional bands will perform popular hits and folk songs, their harmonious voices echoing across the coastal night sky and rhyming with the sea breeze. Street food stalls will line the shore, offering a wide variety of food and drinks options, including coconut water, milk tea, and local barbecue.

From July 24th to 25th, the ‘Rambutan Red Baoting, Fabulous Fruit’ 2026 Rambutan Harvest Season event will be held at the Qixian Cultural Square 📍in Baoting. A 400-meter long parade beginning at Qixian Cultural Square and ending at Qixian Dream City will feature a ‘Red Rambutan’ fruit baby parade, flash mobs, and clowns on stilts bringing joyful surprises to crowds lining the street, as well as a Sichuan Opera face-changing performance that’s sure to please viewers.

On July 25th, the ‘Rambutan Red Baoting, Fabulous Fruit’ 2026 Rambutan Harvest Season event was held in Baoting.

August Brings More Adventures

The Hainan Island Carnival is well on its way, but there’s still plenty of fun to come.

📍Danzhou, the closing venue of this year’s Carnival, will host the ‘Continuing Joy’ and Folk Song Carnival on Ocean Flower Island from August 11th to 18th. The event will feature Danzhou Folk Songs, a national intangible cultural heritage art, as the main theme. Activities will include a group singing competition, an original folk song competition, and a folk song costume design competition. Folk music performers will also bring intangible cultural heritage to the crowds through street flash mobs.

📍Qionghai will officially launch the 12th Tanmen Beachcombing Season on August 16th in Tanmen Town. The opening ceremony will include the national intangible cultural heritage ‘108 Brothers at Sea Ceremony’, presided over by a senior captain in traditional attire.

📍Lingao will host the first annual Lingao Beachcombing Treasure Hunt Party from August 15th to 16th. The event, themed ‘Beachcomb At Your Leisure’, features a treasure hunt party, a golden shovel competition, a seafood market, a starlit movie night, a summer concert, a treasure campsite, and a themed photo exhibition.

📍Wuzhishan will launch the ‘Heart of Hainan, Home of the Rainforest’ themed event and the Red Canyon Rafting Carnival, combining water sports with fun competitions and interactive games, including NPC water battles, goose-catching competitions, and mystery box raffles.

📍Qiongzhong will offer a cycling tour along the tropical rainforest national park road and a Baihualing rainforest camping concert.

📍Baoting will host the Hainan Qixian Hot Spring Water Splashing Festival on August 19th (the seventh day of the seventh lunar month), following the rambutan harvest season, with the main event taking place from August 17th to 22nd. Classic activities such as the holy water fetching ceremony, welcome gala, massive water carnival, and Li & Miao cultural parade will bring joy to the entire city.

The excitement of the 2026 Hainan Island Carnival is unfolding all across the island in so many different ways! The carnival will run through August 18th, with free admission to Hainan Changying Wonderland, the main venue, extended through August 31st. More fun surprises are coming soon to Hainan’s cities and counties!

Families enjoyed the carnival at Changying Wonderland on the evening of July 31st