Saigontourist Group festival draws thousands on opening day

The fifth culinary festival, featuring over 500 delicious dishes from Vietnam's northern, central, and southern regions, alongside cultural tours, attracted thousands of visitors on 26/3.

Many young people also visited the festival early, despite it being a weekday. Bao Tran (23 years old, Tan Son Nhat ward) and Phu Tai (25 years old) are big fans of Hue ancient capital, so they made sure to arrive early, fearing crowds in the evening. Both enjoy traditional cakes like banh nam and banh beo chen. The Hue beef noodle soup from Saigon Morin Hotel, with its distinct fermented shrimp paste flavor, was highly praised by Tran and Tai for its authentic, rich taste with tender, flavorful beef.

The Saigontourist Group Cultural, Culinary, and Delicious Dishes Festival 2026 runs for four days, from 26-29/3. This event showcases over 500 dishes from the northern, central, and southern regions of Vietnam, complemented by local cultural experiences such as folk cake making and art performances. Activities take place daily from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Van Thanh Tourist Area, Ho Chi Minh City (TP HCM).

On the opening day, thousands of visitors came to experience the cuisine and enjoy art performances, including Cham dance, bai choi singing, Hue folk songs, ho doi dap (call-and-response singing), don ca tai tu (southern folk music), and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) gong performances.

{"caption_all":"Culinary experiences are designed as a continuous journey, taking diners through 10 "stops" with distinct flavors, from Northwest specialties, Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam to island seafood, imperial cuisine, rice-based dishes, Vietnamese tea, and green culinary trends. This arrangement allows visitors to "travel across Vietnam" in just a few hours.nnMs. Truong Tien Phuong Mai (Phuong Thong Tay Hoi) and her friends arrived from 4 p.m. to fully experience the festival atmosphere from afternoon to evening. Ms. Mai stated that this is the third year her group has participated, drawn by the event's model and significance. Additionally, the professional organization, from ticket sales to guidance, service, experience, and entertainment, all arranged and designed like a cross-Vietnam journey, is a major plus that makes them want to return.","caption_items":"["",""]"}

Beyond culinary experiences, the festival offers a diverse cultural and artistic space. Performances like bai choi singing, Hue folk songs, don ca tai tu, Tay Nguyen gongs, xoe dance, and monkey dance are interspersed with modern music acts.

A "floating market on the wharf and under the boats" features regional fruit specialties, rice, beans, corn, potatoes, candies, My Long rice paper, Son Doc puffed rice cakes. Artists performing call-and-response folk singing concurrently contribute to the lively atmosphere.

By evening, the festival became even more crowded, attracting many international visitors, such as Thuy Tien (in white, from Laos), who is in TP HCM for leisure and study. Tien expressed her delight in tasting not only her country's cuisine but also delicious dishes from Vietnam's three regions. "This is the most memorable experience in the two years I've studied in Vietnam. Last year, my friends and I were very impressed and enjoyed it, so we came again this year," Tien said.

Many traditional craft villages are also recreated at the event, offering interactive experiences for visitors, such as trying pottery making, wrapping banh tet, or pounding com dep (flattened young sticky rice).

One of Thuy Tien's favorite stalls, also popular with many diners, was the Saigon - Phu Tho Hotel, a member of Saigontourist Group. The unit brought distinctive local delicacies, utilizing palm trees as a primary ingredient for most dishes. According to Mr. Tran Thanh Son, the hotel's general director, Phu Tho is associated with the legend of Son Tinh - Thuy Tinh and unique dishes offered to the Hung Kings, such as nine-tusked elephant, nine-spurred chicken, and nine-maned horse.

"We brought the multi-spurred chicken dish, offered to the King, which is introduced to the public for the first time, giving festival-goers an opportunity to taste it this year. There are also grilled fermented pork rolls in the Muong cultural style, palm sticky rice, and braised palm fruit, which are also worth trying," Mr. Son shared.

A popular and engaging activity for many attendees is pounding com dep. A stall representative explained that glutinous rice used for com dep is typically selected for large, long grains, then soaked in water and sun-dried. Once drained, the rice is placed in a clay pot and roasted over glowing charcoal. When fragrant, the artisan pours the rice into a large mortar and uses a big pestle to pound it until flattened, then mixes it with grated coconut and sugar.

This year, Saigon - Kim Lien Hotel also brought unique dishes made from freshwater eel, such as eel soup, Nghe-style eel vermicelli, eel sausage, and other specialties. The eel sausage, in particular, uses eel meat from the rice-growing region of Yen Thanh, providing a natural sweetness and chewiness, marinated with distinct spices like cu nen (a type of shallot), turmeric, and hanh tam (a small wild onion).

According to Ms. Dinh Thi Thuy Linh, a hotel representative, the scale of the Saigontourist Group Cultural, Culinary, and Delicious Dishes Festival has improved each year, becoming more professional. This year, the organizers focused on the culinary culture stories of each region and local folk art forms. This emphasis allows participating units to promote local specialties, contributing to elevating Vietnamese cuisine and tourism internationally.

The official opening ceremony took place at 6:30 p.m. Speaking at the event, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Deputy General Director of Saigontourist Group and head of the festival organizing committee, noted that this year's program coincides with the group's 51st anniversary. For over half a century, the organization has aimed to honor and spread Vietnamese cultural values to international friends. The festival clearly embodies this spirit, providing an opportunity for domestic and international visitors in TP HCM to enjoy regional delicacies and experience local folk culture and traditions.

The program also presented awards such as "top 10 outstanding regional delicacies" and "top 10 excellent chefs."

According to Mr. Quoc Anh, the 500 delicious dishes introduced at this year's festival showcase the chefs' skill, the local origin of ingredients, and the stories behind them. These elements contribute to the diversity and uniqueness of the event, which has won the "world's most unique culinary festival" award for three consecutive years. Many delicious dishes, chefs, and mixologists were also honored at the opening ceremony.