Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre is located at Dinh Tien Hoang Street, near ancient Hoan Kiem Lake, in the centre of Hanoi.

The theatre has successfully gone on tour in more than 40 countries and now has its own playhouse which seats 300 people, with modern equipment and facilities. Performances are enhanced with modern stage design, sound and lighting.

The art of puppetry has existed in Vietnam for over 1000 years, and was most strongly developed during the Ly-Tran dynasty. Historically, puppet shows were performed to celebrate the King's birthday, and Vietnamese water puppetry has also been closely connected to communal faiths and folkloric festivals, including those held to celebrate work inauguration, pagoda festivals, etc.

The puppeteers were athletic artists who performed at leisure after harvest time. In Vietnamese puppetry art, characters are various.

They can be legendary or mythic - even modern characters, plants and animals can come alive. There are a variety of different performances, including everyday activities in the lives of the Vietnamese people, stories of national heroes, and traditional opera plays. In the old days, puppetry shows were performed without words.

Later on, accompanying words, singing and music were added to these shows. Water puppetry was performed in the day and mainly used drums, fireworks and crackers as sound effects.