Saigontourist Delicious Dishes Festival 2025: A Journey from Local Flavors to a Global Event

Regional Culinary Delights

This year’s festival makes a profound impression by featuring over 600 unique dishes from all three regions of Vietnam – the highest number ever recorded. This impressive achievement is the result of careful research, curation, and dedication from Saigontourist Group’s chefs and culinary artisans. Each dish represents not only culinary artistry but also cultural stories about the people, history, and traditions of each region.

Northern cuisine stands out for its delicate and refined flavors with dishes such as bun thang (vermicelli soup), cha ca La Vong (grilled fish), Ho Tay shrimp cakes, and Lang Son sour pho. The Central region offers bold, intricate tastes through dishes like cao lau, mi Quang, com hen (clam rice), Thanh Chuong pickled jackfruit, Quang Binh brown rice porridge, and salted roasted Cua chicken. The South, on the other hand, bursts with rustic charm and vibrant colors in dishes like Phu Yen scallion noodle soup, meals infused with the melodies of don ca tai tu, or specialties from the river regions such as Con Dao mackerel and Kon Tum leaf salad made from more than 60 types of forest herbs.

Notably, the leaf salad is a vivid example of the effort to preserve and bring authentic forest flavors to the city. The Binh Quoi Tourist Village team traveled to Kon Tum to learn traditional preparation methods and painstakingly sourced unique local leaves for the dish. Each such item tells a story of passion, cultural respect, and continuous creativity.

Folk Festivities

The festival space at Van Thanh Tourist Area is transformed into a vibrant scene of folk culture from all three regions. Each zone – North, Central, and South – not only showcases culinary specialties but also serves as a stage for traditional art performances, creating an engaging, all-day experience.

Visitors can immerse themselves in energetic traditional dances such as nhay sap (bamboo pole dance), mua xoe, and enjoy performances of quan ho folk singing from Bac Ninh, ca Hue, cai luong, and don ca tai tu. Artistic miniatures like “on the wharf, in the boat” or the Tay Nguyen communal house recreate vivid traditional lifestyles of the Southern and Central Highlands people. Particularly, the Gong culture of the Central Highlands – recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage – is performed live by artisans from Kon Tum, adding a rare highlight to the festival ambiance.

The event also includes a traditional games area with folk activities such as lô tô bingo, blindfolded pig smashing, ring toss, ball throwing, and street performances spread throughout the festival. These bring back the lively, festive atmosphere of spring fairs, reminiscent of many people's childhood memories.

Reaching the World

Going beyond the national scope, Saigontourist Group has planned to take an “international version” of the Delicious Dishes Festival abroad starting in 2025. This move represents not only a leap in culinary promotion but also a sustainable cultural development strategy integrated with tourism.

Specifically, the festival will join Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, and the Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 in Singapore, bringing the essence of Vietnamese cuisine and culture to global audiences. Rustic dishes like bun rieu, pho, goi cuon (spring rolls), along with folk performances and traditional craft showcases, will create a complete “Made in Vietnam” experience abroad.

This marks a golden opportunity to elevate the “Vietnamese cuisine” brand and help overseas Vietnamese communities reconnect with childhood flavors and the essence of their homeland. From a local festival, Saigontourist is steadily asserting its leadership role in blending cuisine and culture, strongly promoting Vietnamese values on the world map.

The Saigontourist Group’s Culinary Culture Festival – Delicious Dishes 2025 is a testament to a visionary blend of culture and tourism, preserving and promoting traditional values while paving the way for globalization. From a periodic culinary event, the festival is gradually becoming a cultural brand with strong appeal to both local communities and international visitors. On the path to integration, it is the humble dishes and heartfelt stories from home that create the strongest bonds. Saigontourist is making that connection with both heart and vision.