Discovering Vietnamese culture and culinary
Update: Feb 23, 2009
The “My homeland festival”, an annual culinary and culture festival organized by Saigontourist Holding Company, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Binh Quoi Tourism Village, is an opportunity for tourists to learn about the significant features of Vietnamese cuisine.

This is the fourth time the festival has been held, and this year the focus on typical cultural activities and Vietnamese cuisine is stronger than ever. The festival took place in Van Thanh Tourism Park on February 20, featuring traditional Vietnamese markets, folk games and folk music areas and culinary areas from each region.

At the event more than 100 outstanding dishes from the North, the South and Center of Vietnam were introduced, including many traditional dishes from Ben Tre, Dong Thap, Tra Vinh and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces, to name a few.

Moreover, visitors to the park enjoyed more than 30 Vietnamese wines at Viet Wine House area, and saw wine and cocktail making and bartending performances.

The art show is another attraction at the event. Artistic troupes from provinces around the country performed, including the five tones (of the traditional musical scale) band of Khmer people in Soc Trang Province, a performance on bamboo instruments from Buon Don District of Dak Lak Province, Cam dance and Paranung music from Ninh Thuan Province and a gongs troupe from Gia Lai Province. There were also folk music performances, such as hat cheo, hat tuong (classical drama), Hue music and the South’s traditional music.

The atmosphere were colorful and animated, depicting the daily life of Vietnamese people in every region; for example there was a real market with street vendors wearing traditional costumes and calling out to attract passers-by. Visitors saw how toys are made from natural materials, such as paper boats and toys made from water coconut leaves and clay, and should not miss the folk games of the many regions. On display in the trade village area were examples of Vietnamese crafts such as basket weaving, ceramics, conical hats, brocade weaving, wine making and rice noodles, especially banh trang (griddle cake) Trang Bang and com dep (green rice) Tra Vinh.
SGT