Festival bringing exposure to Hanoi’s distinct food and crafts

Launching ceremony of Hanoi Cuisine and Craft Tourism Festival 2022

In response to Vietnam’s hosting of SEA Games 31 in Hanoi and several surrounding localities, the Hanoi Centre for Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion (HPA) was assigned by the municipal People’s Committee to organise the Hanoi Cuisine and Craft Village Tourism Festival 2022 from May 19 to 23.

The special five-day event is taking place on the pavements of Le Quang Dao Street in Hanoi’s Nam Tu Liem district.

In her opening remark, HPA’s deputy director Nguyen Thi Mai Anh said that the festival provides a valued opportunity for the city’s tourism and service industry to promote image, and introduce cultural and culinary values ​​and local traditional craft products to the people, as well as domestic and foreign visitors attending SEA Games 31.

The event aims to spread Hanoi’s image as a safe, friendly, and attractive destination, buoyed by distinct cuisine and traditional crafts.

Hanoi has been known as the kingdom of craft villages, accommodating 47 out of the 52 traditional craft villages in the country. Several of these villages have been doing an excellent job with both trade and tourism promotion, giving birth to craft village tours to attract visitors at Bat Trang pottery village, Van Phuc silk village, Ha Thai lacquerware village, and others.

According to the Organising Committee, the festival will feature six different themed areas, including booths to introduce craft products from diverse villages in Hanoi, a culinary zone, and an entertainment area with folk games and others imitating competitions from SEA Games to entertain the children and their parents.

In particular, at their exhibition area, craft villages arrange narrators to introduce their traditional culture and distinct product production process.

Several typical traditional craft villages of Hanoi having products joining the festival include Bat Trang Pottery Village (in Gia Lam District), Van Phuc Silk Village (in Ha Dong District), Phu Vinh Bamboo and Rattan Village (in Chuong My District), Ha Thai Lacquer Village (in Thuong Tin District), Son Dong Craft Village (in Hoai Duc District), horn combs from Ung Thuy Village (in Thuong Tin District) and to he (toy figurines) from Xuan La Village (in Phu Xuyen District).

At the culinary festival, special and delicious dishes from Hanoi prepared by talented local chefs will also be available, including pho (traditional Vietnamese rice noodle soup with beef or chicken), cha ca (grilled fish with fresh noodles), bun thang (vermicelli soup with chicken, pork sausage, mushroom, and turnip pickle), nem Phung (pork skin mixture with grilled rice powder), and steamed sticky rice from Phu Thuong village.

The entertainment area features a playground for the children and their families to experience both traditional and modern games like tug of war, blind man’s bluff, rope jumping, and e-sports.

The festival will also feature many attractive activities including an introduction to the production stages of products from several trade villages, a show featuring Ao Dai (Vietnamese traditional long dresses) made from Van Phuc silk and jewellery from horns and inlaid pearls.

The 31^st SEA Games takes place in Hanoi and 11 neighbouring northern localities from May 12 to 23.

It features 40 sports and 526 events, attracting around 10,000 participants.

Hanoi is the central location for its biggest regional sports event, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies at My Dinh Stadium as well as 28 other competitions at its 18 venues.

It is an excellent opportunity for Hanoi to present its image as the beautiful, friendly, and dynamic capital city of Vietnam to international friends.

According to the Hanoi Department of Tourism, nearly 65,000 domestic and international visitors have already experienced activities at the Hanoi Tourism Gift Festival 2022 that took place in the pedestrian zone surrounding Hoan Kiem Lake from April 29 to May 1.

Some images of the Hanoi Cuisine and Craft Village Tourism Festival 2022 are below:

The food space attracts many visitors to taste authentic dishes of Hanoi and of craft villages

Tasteful dishes of western food are also introduced

Specialty food products of diverse localities also feature at the Hanoi festival- Photo: HPA