Anyone who has spent time in Ho Chi Minh City during October knows the drill. By afternoon, the humid air thickens, clouds gather, and rain can arrive with little warning. A planned walk through the city can quickly become a scramble for shelter, while a café-hopping afternoon turns into a hunt for somewhere dry.
But the rainy season can also be a good excuse to slow down. And increasingly, that does not necessarily mean finding another café.
Across Ho Chi Minh City, hands-on workshops have become a small but increasingly visible part of the city's leisure economy. Perfume blending, pottery, silver jewelry, candle making and rug tufting offer something that cafés and bars cannot: an activity with a beginning, an end, and something tangible to take home.
The appeal also goes beyond escaping the weather. For local residents, these workshops offer a way to spend an afternoon doing something different from the city's familiar cycle of eating, drinking and shopping. For international visitors, they provide a more participatory souvenir: rather than simply buying something made in Vietnam, you can spend a few hours learning a craft and leave with something you made yourself.
That combination has helped turn the workshop from a niche craft class into a form of urban leisure. Studios can operate with relatively small spaces and small groups, while charging for both the experience and the finished object. For customers, meanwhile, the appeal is partly in the making itself: a couple of hours away from a phone, learning something with your hands, and leaving with a personal souvenir.
It is particularly suited to Saigon's unpredictable afternoons. When the forecast calls for another downpour, a workshop gives you somewhere to be, something to do, and a reason to stay a little longer.
Here are five creative workshops worth considering when the rain rolls in.
1. Custom Perfume Blending: Create Your Own Signature Scent
When the streets outside smell of wet asphalt, stepping into a perfume studio offers a different kind of sensory experience.
At NOTE – The Scent Lab, participants can spend around 120 minutes learning the basics of fragrance blending and creating their own perfume from a selection of more than 30 fragrance ingredients. The workshop introduces the process of combining different notes and allows participants to experiment until they arrive at a scent they like.
The workshop is available at NOTE's locations in Thảo Điền and District 1. You can choose the bottle size when booking, with options currently ranging from 10ml to 50ml.
The Takeaway: Your own blended perfume, made during the workshop and bottled to take home.
- Where to go: NOTE – The Scent Lab, Thảo Điền or District 1
- Time needed: About 2 hours
2. Pottery Throwing: Find Your Center on the Wheel
Few activities require you to pay attention to your hands quite like throwing clay.
At Atelier de Zeynep in Thảo Điền, the two-hour wheel-throwing workshop introduces the basics of working with clay on a pottery wheel. You will learn how to center the clay, shape it and form a vessel. Expect some trial and error: getting a perfectly symmetrical cup on your first attempt is probably less important than learning how the clay responds to your hands.
After the workshop, the studio takes care of glazing and firing the finished piece. Your ceramic piece is generally ready for collection in around two weeks. If you want to decorate it yourself, the studio also offers a separate ceramic-painting session after the piece has been prepared.
The Takeaway: A handmade ceramic piece that has been glazed and fired by the studio.
- Where to go: Atelier de Zeynep, Thảo Điền
- Time needed: About 2 hours for the wheel-throwing workshop
- Good to know: Your finished piece is not available immediately. Allow around two weeks for glazing and firing.
3. Silver Jewelry Making: Hammer, Saw and Polish
For something more hands-on, try making your own piece of silver jewelry.
At Ddreamer Jewelry Workshop in District 3, participants work with silver under the guidance of a jeweler. Depending on the piece, the process can involve cutting, sawing, hammering, soldering and polishing the metal. Workshops cover different types of jewelry, including rings, earrings, pendants, bracelets and bangles.
The experience usually takes around two to three hours, depending on what you choose to make. Workshop fees start from around 950,000 VND per person, while the silver itself is charged separately according to the material used and the weight of the finished piece.
Because the workshop has limited daily slots, it is worth checking availability before going.
The Takeaway: A handmade silver jewelry piece that you designed and worked on yourself.
- Where to go: Ddreamer Jewelry Workshop, District 3
- Time needed: Around 2–3 hours, depending on the piece
- Good to know: Workshop fees and silver-material costs are separate.
4. Rug Tufting: Turn Yarn Into Your Own Artwork
If grey skies are making the city feel a little dull, rug tufting offers an appropriately colorful antidote.
At Tuft Saigon in District 1, beginners can use a tufting gun to push yarn through a stretched fabric backing and gradually build up their chosen design. You can work from one of the studio's designs or bring your own, turning the finished piece into a small rug or decorative object for your home.
The time required depends on the size. A 20-by-20cm piece takes around three hours, while a 40-by-40cm rug takes around four and a half hours. Unlike pottery, there is no need to wait for a kiln: the finished piece can be taken home the same day.
The Takeaway: A finished hand-tufted piece to use as a small rug or decorative accent.
- Where to go: Tuft Saigon, District 1
- Time needed: About 3–4.5 hours, depending on size
- Good to know: The finished piece can be taken home the same day.
5. Candle Making: Make a Scented Candle of Your Own
For something slower and less physically demanding, Workshop Candles offers a personal candle-making workshop in Thảo Điền.
The session introduces the basics of making a candle while giving you room to personalize its scent, color and decorative details. Rather than simply choosing a candle from a shelf, you get to decide what you want your own version to look and smell like.
The workshop is held at the brand's Thảo Điền location on Xuân Thủy and currently costs around 550,000 VND.
The Takeaway: A personalized scented candle that you made yourself.
- Where to go: Workshop Candles, 94 Xuân Thủy, Thảo Điền
- Time needed: Check the current session schedule when booking
- Good to know: The workshop is available by reservation, so check the latest schedule before visiting.
A Practical Guide to Workshop-Hopping During Saigon's Rainy Season
Time it around the weather
Ho Chi Minh City's rainy season generally runs from around May through November, with October still receiving substantial rainfall. Showers tend to be more common in the afternoon and early evening, although there is no reliable daily hour when the rain will arrive.
That makes an afternoon workshop a useful option when the forecast looks unstable. Rather than planning around an exact 2 PM downpour, check the weather forecast on the day and choose a session that gives you somewhere to be when the rain is most likely.
Book ahead
Not every workshop operates like a walk-in attraction. Small studios may have only a few places per session, while some require advance booking.
This is particularly relevant for Ddreamer, which operates workshops with limited daily slots. For pottery, perfume and candle workshops, check the studio's current schedule and availability before setting out.
Leave extra travel time
Heavy rain can slow traffic significantly. Flooding can also temporarily affect some streets, particularly in low-lying areas and when heavy rainfall coincides with high tides.
This is worth keeping in mind if your workshop is in Thảo Điền. Give yourself some extra time to get there, particularly if you're traveling during a period of heavy rain.
Bring a small rain kit
Even if most of your afternoon will be spent indoors, a compact umbrella and waterproof bag for your phone or other electronics are useful. If you're taking a motorbike, a rain jacket is more practical than hoping the storm passes before you need to leave.
And if you are planning a workshop that lasts several hours, remember that the rain may stop before your session does. The point is not necessarily to wait out one particular shower, but to make the weather less of a constraint on your afternoon.
Rain may be one of Saigon's most persistent seasonal inconveniences. It can also be a reason to spend a few hours making something you would not otherwise have made.