TPO – The decision to inscribe Culinary Knowledge and Appreciation of Cha Ca La Vong on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage will be officially announced at the opening ceremony of the Hanoi Food and Culture Festival 2025. At the event, members of the Doan family in Hanoi will recount the story of how Cha Ca La Vong was created and preserved through six generations.
Cuisine has been identified as one of the key fields contributing to the development of Hanoi’s cultural industries. The Hanoi Food and Culture Festival is an annual event assigned by the Hanoi People’s Committee to the Department of Culture and Sports, in coordination with relevant units. On the afternoon of December 16, the organizing committee provided information on the festival’s main activities.
According to Le Thi Anh Mai, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, the expansion of administrative boundaries combined with cultural exchanges has shaped a rich and diverse culinary identity for Hanoi. Currently, Hanoi has seven culinary heritages inscribed on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, including Hanoi pho, Me Tri green rice flakes, Quang An lotus tea, Phu Thuong sticky rice, Thanh Tri steamed rice rolls, and Bat Trang ceremonial feast culinary knowledge.
Le Thi Anh Mai, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, speaks about the festival’s theme.
Sharing further details about the Hanoi Food and Culture Festival 2025, the leadership of the Department stated that the opening ceremony will take place on December 19 at Thong Nhat Park (Hanoi). At this ceremony, the official decision to inscribe Culinary Knowledge and Appreciation of Cha Ca La Vong on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage will be announced. During the opening, the Doan family will share the story of how Cha Ca La Vong was created six generations ago – a dish that has become deeply embedded in the collective memory of Hanoi’s people.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Van Bai, Vice Chairman of the National Cultural Heritage Council, cuisine is a form of cultural heritage that helps shape local identity and national branding in the context of tourism and cultural industry development. With Cha Ca La Vong, heritage value lies not only in cooking techniques or ways of enjoying the dish, but also in its historical narrative, collective memory, and family tradition associated with its formation.
The heritage expert discusses the importance of cuisine in developing the cultural industry.
“Cha Ca La Vong is a typical example of how a dish can become an urban symbol, when the name of the dish is attached to the name of a street, leaving a deep imprint on Hanoi’s physical space and cultural memory,” the heritage expert noted.
The Hanoi Food and Culture Festival 2025 also serves as a space where culinary artisans connect with younger generations. The festival features numerous heritage demonstrations such as wrapping banh chung, preparing Bat Trang ceremonial feasts, scenting West Lake lotus tea, learning the process of making green rice flakes, cooking Phu Thuong sticky rice, cold snail noodle soup, and guiding the making of preserved fruits and jams.
In 2024, a pho-cooking robot booth at the festival attracted special attention from visitors.
A total of 60 culinary exhibition spaces will help honor traditional culinary heritage values and reaffirm the Hanoi Cuisine brand associated with elegance and refinement. A key highlight is the creative check-in area where residents and visitors can share their love and pride for Vietnamese pho.
The festival aims toward a state-business-community linkage model, using culinary heritage as a foundation to promote creativity alongside preservation. Through this approach, the festival seeks to create sustainable livelihoods for communities while making practical contributions to Hanoi’s socio-economic development.
According to Ngoc Anh
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