Ho Chi Minh City residents flock to Saigontourist Group 2025 food festival

Taking advantage of the cool evening weather, on the second day of the "Saigontourist Group 2025 Food and Culture Festival", many people and tourists came to experience specialties from 3 regions.

Crowded visitors in the evening of the second day of the festival - Photo: NHAT XUAN

According to Tuoi Tre Online , on the second day of the festival, there were a lot of visitors, including both locals and tourists. People came not only to experience the cuisine but also to learn about the recipes for traditional dishes from the three regions.

Get to the festival by metro

As the evening wore on, the parking lot at Van Thanh tourist area (Binh Thanh district, Ho Chi Minh City) became more and more overloaded. The large number of visitors forced the organizers to arrange additional parking areas and assign staff to guide visitors.

Nguyen Thi Yen (25 years old, living in Binh Thanh district) said she accidentally learned about the festival through TikTok and found it extremely attractive. "I walked around the festival but didn't know what to choose because there were so many delicious dishes," Yen shared. In the end, she decided to try the dishes from the list of "10 delicious dishes to try" suggested by the organizers.

Yen chose the spicy fish noodle soup with red phoenix flowers from the Grand Saigon Hotel. Her friend chose the lotus-stewed red ginseng from the Van Thanh Tourist Area. "The name of the dish sounded strange, so I wanted to try it to see if the taste was as impressive as the name," Yen said.

Staff at the stalls are busy serving customers - Photo: NHAT XUAN

Similarly, a group of young people, Tran Phu, Le Thi Chi and Nguyen Tran Trung, were also eager to participate in the festival. Chi said that the group had known about the event since last year but this year they had arranged to go together and also took the opportunity to experience the metro.

"The metro is less crowded now than when it opened. The station stops right at Van Thanh tourist area. We decided to join the festival this year because it's convenient," Chi said.

This is not just a simple culinary event, but the festival also recreates the space of old Saigon with floating markets, traditional craft villages and gathers more than 600 special dishes from the 3 regions of North - Central - South.

Chi said the group was very excited when the festival had booths introducing traditional crafts such as rattan weaving. In addition, many folk games such as making clay figurines and carving fruits were also impressive. "The festival even played the hot trending Bac Bling music, both modern and traditional, creating a very happy atmosphere," she said.

Surprised by how delicious the food was!

For Vu Thi Thu Huong (a tourist from Hanoi), the food festival was the last stop on her business and travel itinerary in Ho Chi Minh City. She felt lucky to have attended before returning to Hanoi.

“Extremely delicious” is the phrase Huong uses to describe the specialties she has tried. Initially, she only intended to check-in at the traditional space to post on Facebook without expecting much from the quality of the food.

However, when passing by the stalls, Huong was surprised by the variety and eye-catching vegetarian dishes. "I didn't expect the food to be so rich and delicious, I was hooked after trying it," she excitedly shared.

Not only Vietnamese visitors, the festival attracts a large number of visitors from all over the world, Western visitors to participate in the festival - Photo: NHAT XUAN

Ms. Truong Thi Nhu Thuong, from the Hue sweet soup stall, said that this was the fifth year the stall had participated in the festival. This year was even more special as the corporation was celebrating its 50th anniversary, so the dishes were also invested in more diversity.

"We offer many traditional and new dishes, about 20 dishes in total. Among them, there are special dishes such as tamarind seed tea, corn tea...", Ms. Thuong shared.

The festival not only attracts a large number of locals but also tourists from many places. According to Ms. Thuong, the busiest time is usually in the cool early evening, when people have time to walk around and enjoy the food.

"Many Westerners and visitors from other provinces also visit the booth. Every day, there are foreign visitors coming to enjoy the food," said Ms. Thuong. She also predicted that the number of visitors on the weekend will be even higher.

Visitors enjoy eating while enjoying the scenery and the breeze - Photo: NHAT XUAN

Giant mackerel displayed at the festival impressed diners - Photo: NHAT XUAN

Many families take advantage of the cool evening to bring their children to experience the culinary culture festival - Photo: NHAT XUAN

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nguoi-dan-tp-hcm-un-un-do-ve-le-hoi-am-thuc-saigontourist-group-2025-20250328204721618.htm