Delegates Perform the Opening Ceremony of Pho Festival 2025. Photo: Pham Linh
With the theme “The Quintessence of Vietnamese Pho – Heritage in the Digital Era,” Pho Festival 2025 gathered over 50 booths from businesses and pho culinary brands across all three regions of Vietnam. Alongside famous pho brands such as Pho Tu Lun, Pho Thin Hoan Kiem, Pho Ganh, Pho Van Cu, and Northern Sour Pho, there were many innovative pho dishes attracting diners’ attention, including Artichoke Pho, Baby Back Rib Pho, and Pipa Duck Pho…
Hanoi People’s Committee Chairman Tran Sy Thanh and Delegates Visit Pho Booths at the Festival. Photo: Pham Linh
At the festival, all booths applied a standard price of 40,000 VND per bowl. In addition to enjoying this iconic Vietnamese dish, visitors had the opportunity to experience the full pho-making process, from selecting ingredients and making pho noodles to cooking the broth, demonstrated by skilled artisans.
Visitors could also explore the exhibition space “The Story of Pho,” which recreated the development of Vietnamese pho through different historical periods; experience the old-style pho street vendors from the subsidized-era stalls to world-renowned pho brands. The Hanoi lotus tea space and Mau Dich beer booth – reflecting Hanoi’s old culinary culture – were also recreated at the festival.
Diners Line Up to Enjoy Pipa Duck Pho. Photo: VNE
A highlight of Pho Festival 2025 was the first-time use of AI technology to provide consultation and customer support at a culinary festival. The organizers applied AI – Chatbot technology to enhance visitors’ experiences, optimize event operations, and promote the festival. The AI technology was stationed at the information booth to assist visitors in locating booths and finding desired pho dishes.
Within the program, in addition to culinary experiences, the seminar “Pho as a UNESCO Heritage and its Global Spread” offered artisans and diners insights into pho’s journey from a traditional dish to a global culinary heritage. The seminar also discussed the procedures and challenges in preparing the UNESCO nomination for pho, opening a space to explore the cultural and heritage value of pho in the context of internationalized cuisine, as more and more Vietnamese dishes gain recognition and spread globally.
H.A