At the fireworks festival coloring Da Nang's summer night sky, what stays in spectators' memory now isn't only the fireworks. There's a man who breaks through the booming BGM and the roar of tens of thousands of people with just a single voice. Ice cream seller Nguyen Thanh Quan, 45. His resonant call of "Kem day! (Ice cream here!)" has become a talk-of-the-town feature of the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival DIFF2026. For Japanese travelers visiting Da Nang to watch the fireworks too, this is a "second highlight" not to be missed.
A human drama — a 45-year-old ice cream seller breaking through booming BGM with his voice
The subject of the talk is Quan, who lives in the Lien Chieu district of Da Nang. Along the Han River, the fireworks launch venue, on Dong Da street in the Hai Chau district, he walks selling ice cream toward the waves of spectators. Filling a cooler box with flavors like strawberry, banana, durian, and chocolate, he prepares over 100 bars in a night.
What drew attention is his distinctive way of selling. Loud music to hype up the spectators keeps flowing at the venue, but Quan's call of "Kem day! Kem socola, kem dau day! (Ice cream! Chocolate, strawberry ice cream!)" resounds with a force that even pushes back that music. He himself only says, "There are too many people, so if I don't raise a big voice I can't be heard," but that all-out vocalizing conversely captured the spectators' hearts.
What's interesting is that his main job isn't ice cream selling. He's usually engaged in physical therapy and only stands at the venue during the fireworks-festival season. He started selling in the 2024 fireworks season. Recognition spread among spectators as "that voice guy," and regulars even appeared who search him out by his voice to buy. It wasn't skill at business but a personality that brightens the mood on the spot that reached many people through SNS.
The heat of DIFF2026 and Da Nang's summer tourism
The stage where this human drama was born, DIFF (Da Nang International Fireworks Festival) 2026, is held from May 30 to July 11, 2026, in the mouth area of the Han River. This year's theme is "United Horizons." As usual, fireworks teams from countries around the world compete in skill in the night sky — Vietnam's premier summer tradition.
Come the competition nights, the streets along the river around the venue fill up with people. Dong Da street, where Quan stands, is right in the midst of that heat. The extraordinary exhilaration of fireworks overlaps with the bustle of street stalls and people's calls, creating a festive space unique to Da Nang's summer. Quan's voice became one of the sounds symbolizing that air.
Da Nang originally boasts among Asia's top popularity for its beaches and food, but the fireworks-festival period falls in a time when the whole town is especially energized in the year. Around the venue gather not only proper paid grandstands but also people looking up at the sky for free from bridges and riverside promenades, and all of them are potential customers for the street stalls.
The scale of the fireworks festival and the "economic zone of voice"
DIFF2026's excitement shows in the numbers too. According to the source article, in just the first three nights from the opening, visitors topped 326,000, and the occupancy rate of the city's lodging facilities exceeded 70%. The fireworks teams gathering from around the world number 10 teams, from 9 countries and regions, a full-fledged international competition where matchups are set each night.
This huge flow of people directly becomes a business opportunity for mobile sellers like Quan. According to the source article, ice cream is 10,000 dong per bar. Preparing about 100 bars a night, on well-selling nights sales reach about 700,000 dong. 10,000 dong is roughly 60 yen as a rough estimate as of June 2026 (note it fluctuates with the exchange rate at the time). By Japanese sensibilities it's by no means a large sum, but it's become a precious seasonal income source, earnable concentrated in the few weeks of the fireworks season.
The table below organizes Quan's voice-armed business in numbers.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Sales location | Dong Da street, Hai Chau district (along the Han River) |
| Product | Ice cream (strawberry, banana, durian, chocolate, etc.) |
| Price | About 10,000 dong per bar (roughly 60 yen, as of June 2026) |
| Prepared per night | Over 100 bars |
| Started selling | Since the 2024 fireworks season |
The value beyond a purchase, seen in spectators' reactions
The reason Quan is supported lies less in the product itself than in the atmosphere he brings to the venue. From the source article and surrounding voices, several common reactions emerge.
- Regulars have appeared who search him out by his voice and come to buy every time
- There are spectator voices saying that, whether they buy or not, his bright energy brightens the place
- There are onlookers who enjoy the very call that doesn't lose to the booming music as a bit of entertainment
In other words, people are paying money at once for the ice cream and for the "fun" his presence creates. During the wait until the fireworks launch, at a venue where strangers are packed together, Quan's voice functions like a signal that eases the tension. This is part of the local festive culture, beyond the realm of a mere vendor.
The depth of "watching DIFF" for Japanese travelers
From here, let's think from the viewpoint of a traveler visiting Da Nang from Japan. Many guides and travelogues tend to concentrate on "watching" information — the price of paid grandstand seats, the fireworks launch times. That's important preparation, but DIFF's real fun is also in the hours when fireworks aren't going up.
Street-stall vendors like Quan are presences that enrich that time. Stalls are indispensable at Japanese fireworks festivals too, but at Da Nang's venue the vibrancy of mobile selling and the vendor's personality come more to the fore. Even without a common language, try responding to his call and buying one bar of ice cream. That alone shifts your standing from tourist to "one person who was together at the venue that night."
Vietnam's street-food culture has these person-to-person exchanges on the street at its core. Da Nang especially condenses that culture in the heart of the town during the fireworks-festival period.DIFF2026 also features a Japan × Italy matchup,so for Japanese there are nights to cheer for their home team. If you're going to watch the fireworks, be sure to arrive at the venue early and build into your itinerary even the time spent waiting for the show while listening to the stall calls.
The joy of Da Nang's food doesn't stop within the fireworks venue.On Da Nang's beach a food fest lining up over 70 stalls is also held,and the procession of vendors shouldering carrying poles is a symbol of this town's food culture. Visit it alongside the fireworks festival and you can savor Da Nang's "joy of eating your way around" all at once.
New local features born of SNS
Behind Quan's story becoming widely known is the presence of SNS. A short video or photo someone took spread, and a single vendor became one of the faces symbolizing the whole festival. This is a change not to be overlooked as a tourism trend.
Once, travelers' means of learning local features centered on guidebooks, but now local people's daily lives themselves become content. A voice that doesn't lose to the booming, an elderly vendor who handles several languages, a single street dish with a queue. Such features rooted in "people" draw travelers with an appeal distinct from the sights the tourism bureau has prepared.
Likewise, street vendors who draw people in with words and personality exist all over Vietnam. For example, likethe 81-year-old banh mi seller who handles English and French,the humanity unique to a place often determines a trip's memories. More than the fireworks themselves, a single exchange of words at the venue stays most in your heart afterward — that kind of experience is surely what today's travelers seek.
How to enjoy watching DIFF and Da Nang's stalls
We've put the key points for actually enjoying the fireworks festival and stalls in Da Nang into a table. Be sure to confirm the latest dates and matchups in official information.
| Item | Point |
|---|---|
| Dates | May 30 – July 11, 2026 (DIFF2026) |
| Theme | United Horizons |
| Scale | An international competition with 10 teams from 9 countries and regions |
| Around the venue | Along the Han River. Stalls concentrate on the streets of the Hai Chau district |
| How to enjoy the stalls | Arrive before the show, buy ice cream or a light snack, and savor the venue's air even during the wait |
| Payment tips | Prepare small bills. Many purchases are small ones of a few tens of yen a bar |
Tips for spending time at the venue
Even without taking a paid seat, you can look up at the fireworks from the riverside promenade or bridges. Since it's crowded, arriving on-site early before the show to secure a spot is reassuring. That waiting time is also the golden window to meet vendors like Quan. When you hear the call, go ahead and try buying one bar.
Summary: memories of Da Nang's summer, woven by a voice
What colors DIFF2026 isn't only the night sky the world's fireworks teams paint. A single ice cream seller breaking through the booming with his voice and brightening the waiting venue. Quan's call is a presence like the very temperature of the festivity Da Nang's summer holds, turned into sound.
For Japanese travelers going to Da Nang to watch the fireworks, this is a big hint. More than a perfect grandstand seat, a single exchange of words at the venue or a bar of ice cream bought on the street can leave your travel memories more vivid. Savor the whole of Da Nang's summer, up to the very moment the fireworks go up.
Sources:Dân trí「Anh bán kem ở Đà Nẵng với tiếng rao át tiếng nhạc khiến khách thích thú」 / For DIFF2026's dates and team information, seethe official DIFF websiteandVisit Da Nangfor reference.
