VHO – On the afternoon of December 16, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports held a press conference to announce the Hanoi Food and Culture Festival 2025. Accordingly, the festival will take place over three days, from December 19 to 21, at Thong Nhat Park, under the theme “Hanoi – A Culinary Journey Connecting Creativity.”
This is an annual cultural event assigned by the Hanoi People’s Committee to the Department of Culture and Sports, in coordination with relevant units.
The festival is organized in the context of Hanoi actively implementing Resolution No. 09-NQ/TU dated February 22, 2022, issued by the Hanoi Party Committee on the development of cultural industries in the Capital for the period 2021-2025, with orientations to 2030 and a vision to 2045.
Le Thi Anh Mai, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, speaks at the press conference.
In this Resolution, cuisine is identified as one of the key fields, playing an important role in promoting the development of cultural industries and contributing to the building of Hanoi’s distinctive cultural brand.
Speaking at the press conference, Le Thi Anh Mai stated that from the historic 36 streets of Hanoi to an expanded administrative Hanoi shaped by the cultural essence of Xu Doai, a diverse and rich cultural space has been formed. This has endowed Hanoi’s culture in general, and its cuisine in particular, with distinctive values that are both deeply traditional and constantly evolving.
According to Ms. Mai, since 2014, Hanoi has conducted inventories of intangible cultural heritage across the city. Through this process, hundreds of culinary heritages have been identified, documented, and included in the city’s intangible cultural heritage list. This serves as an important foundation for preserving and promoting culinary heritage, while effectively tapping into its potential for economic and cultural development.
“Inscribing intangible cultural heritage on the National List is not only an act of honoring heritage values, but also an effective solution to protect, promote, and transform heritage into assets and resources for the sustainable development of cultural industries, thereby contributing to improving local livelihoods,” Le Thi Anh Mai emphasized.
To date, Hanoi has seven culinary heritages inscribed on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. After being recognized, many of these heritages have not only been preserved but also widely disseminated, becoming cultural gifts that carry the strong imprint of the Capital.
Notably, products such as Me Tri green rice flakes (Tu Liem Ward) and Quang An lotus tea (Tay Ho Ward) have appeared at numerous international meetings, serving as refined gifts introducing Hanoi’s culture to the world.
Overview of the press conference
The craft of making Phu Thuong sticky rice is another vivid example of a thriving craft community. Today, the village has more than 300 producing households. Phu Thuong sticky rice is not only a familiar breakfast found throughout Hanoi’s streets and alleys, but also an indispensable dish on ceremonial trays during festivals and important occasions.
Meanwhile, the craft of making Thanh Tri steamed rice rolls (Vinh Hung Ward) once faced the risk of decline as fewer young people pursued the trade. However, thanks to preservation and revitalization efforts, the number of households practicing the craft has now increased to around 60, with diversified business models adapted to modern social demands.
Assessing the role of cuisine in the national cultural flow, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Van Bai, Vice Chairman of the National Cultural Heritage Council, affirmed that cuisine is a crucial component closely linked to community cultural life. It reflects history and customs, while also expressing the identity and creative spirit of each land and each people.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Van Bai, studies show that up to 81% of tourists are willing to pay to experience and enjoy a destination’s culinary culture.
The Hanoi Food and Culture Festival attracted a lot of residents and visitors.
This demonstrates that cuisine is not only a valuable cultural resource, but also a unique tourism product that plays an important role in promoting the development of Hanoi’s cultural industries and shaping national cultural identity.
At the opening ceremony of the Hanoi Food and Culture Festival 2025 on the evening of December 19, the Organizing Committee will announce the decision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to inscribe “Culinary Knowledge and Appreciation of Cha Ca La Vong (Hanoi)” on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
On this occasion, residents and visitors will have the opportunity to meet the Doan family, who have preserved and developed Cha Ca La Vong through six generations, and to hear the story behind a dish that has become deeply embedded in the collective memory of the Capital’s people.
Pho remains one of the most popular dishes attracting visitors at the Hanoi Food and Culture Festival.
In addition, the culinary knowledge of Bat Trang ceremonial feasts, after being inscribed, has gained wider public recognition. Beyond festive trays, this heritage reflects the history of 19 Bat Trang family lineages, strong community bonds, and sophisticated cooking techniques, with signature dishes such as bamboo shoots with cuttlefish and kohlrabi stir-fried with cuttlefish, which are unique to Bat Trang.
Within the framework of the festival, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, in coordination with Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper and with the partnership of Acecook Vietnam Joint Stock Company, will introduce various activities to promote and enhance the value of Hanoi pho heritage. These include sketch competitions on pho heritage, short video production, and the creation of a Hanoi Pho Map, all to be showcased to the public.
Sharing highlights of this year’s festival, Shimamura Masafumi, Marketing Director of Acecook Vietnam, noted that a key feature is the check-in space “A Thousand Words of Pride,” where residents and visitors can send messages expressing their pride in Vietnamese pho.
“We believe that when everyone contributes a word of pride, pho will go beyond being a familiar dish to become a shared pride, preserved by the community and spread to the world,” Mr. Shimamura Masafumi shared.
According to the Organizing Committee, the Hanoi Food and Culture Festival 2025 is expected to feature 60 spaces showcasing Hanoi cuisine and regional food products, allowing residents and visitors to enjoy a wide range of specialties and reaffirm the brand of “Hanoi Cuisine” associated with elegance and refinement.
Alongside exhibitions and displays, the festival will also host a thematic seminar titled “Enhancing Human Resource Quality – Developing Culinary Culture,” artisan demonstrations, and quick competitions for students in the culinary field.
A Culinary Journey Through Hanoi
VHO – The Hanoi Food and Culture Festival was held with the aim of honoring, preserving, and promoting Hanoi’s traditional cultural and culinary values, while building and effectively leveraging the city’s cultural and culinary brand through the development of a refined, distinctive, and high-quality culinary culture. The festival also served as an opportunity for visitors to experience and explore the essence of Hanoi’s cuisine.
Visitors can further enjoy a variety of artistic programs such as circus performances, ritual singing, xam folk singing, street performances, and traditional-modern fusion arts; photo exhibitions promoting Vietnamese culture, tourism, and cuisine; and a mobile book exhibition featuring around 200 titles on culture, arts, tourism, and gastronomy.
In addition, numerous culinary heritage demonstrations will take place, including wrapping banh chung, preparing Bat Trang ceremonial feasts, scenting West Lake lotus tea, making green rice flakes, cooking Phu Thuong sticky rice, cold snail noodle soup, preserved fruits and jams, and chao se.
With many new highlights, the Hanoi Food and Culture Festival 2025 is expected to become an appealing weekend destination rich in cultural identity. Creative connection activities will help invigorate heritage, ensuring that cuisine truly becomes a key resource driving the development of the Capital’s cultural industries.
According to: https://baovanhoa.vn/du-lich/danh-thuc-tiem-nang-di-san-am-thuc-thu-do-189138.html?gidzl=NtMTGaX8U2jHQ9j1Hb5zALDjdK9S1tWl6sYOHGvHUIrAQfr6KbHxBafgda4DK7Wh7MgR4paX3j9TJqXvBm