This is an event to promote culinary culture tourism, creating a series of rich and unique activities at the end of the year to attract international visitors to the city and serve domestic tourists and residents of Ho Chi Minh City. The Department of Tourism hopes to build the festival into a cultural - tourism event to honor the culinary culture values of Vietnam and other countries in the world; create opportunities for cultural exchange between countries, contributing to promoting increasingly sustainable international friendship and cooperation.
This year's festival, with the theme“Multisensory culinary art”Opening at 6:00 p.m. on December 15, 2016, expected to have the participation of 150 booths and nearly 20 countries with the following main activities:
1. Food processing and serving performances at booths:takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day from December 15, 2016 to December 18, 2016. Participating units will perform, introduce unique culinary cultures, specialties of localities and countries and offer delicious dishes to diners. The difference of this year's Festival compared to previous years is that at the booth areas, there will always be performance activities, interactions with diners to increase the attraction of the festival. The organizing committee will build an area "Ho Chi Minh City Culinary Community”Introducing special and typical dishes from 24 districts of Ho Chi Minh City to honor unique culinary businesses of the localities.
The main food stalls will be divided into 05 areas representing the multi-sensory art of cuisine: sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing. Each area has its own unique characteristics in enjoying different dishes, bringing a perfect experience to the participants.
- Taste and smell area: includes booths introducing cuisine with a harmonious combination of flavors, stimulating the taste buds and appetite of diners such as dishes from the Southwestern region of Vietnam, Indian dishes, Thai dishes, etc.
- Visual and auditory area: includes booths that promote culinary aesthetics, displaying works created from culinary art, combined with music, creating emotional harmony, such as: Western European dishes (France, Italy), Japanese, Korean, Central Vietnamese dishes, cuisine combined with street music of Spain, Brazil...
- Tactile area: Units are encouraged to use different cooking methods to demonstrate and guide diners in preparing dishes such as: Vietnamese pancakes, Vietnamese rolls, Italian pizza, Chinese noodles, etc.
- The wine, tea and coffee introduction and display area introduces to the public famous brands and professional knowledge about wine, tea and coffee.
2. Introducing traditional culinary villages:takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day, starting from December 15, 2016 to December 18, 2016. This is an activity to honor and preserve the culture of traditional culinary craft villages of Vietnam. Artisans are invited to perform and interact, teach diners about traditional culinary dishes, and provide full information to visitors about traditional craft villages. The program is expected to have the following activities: Making Southern Vietnamese pancakes; performing the art of roasting tea; craft villages: betel wrapping, bamboo rice, flour, spring rolls, jam, tea...
3. Wine introduction program of different countries: takes place from December 15, 2016 to December 18, 2016 at a separate booth area for wine. The organizers will coordinate with wine distributors in the City and the City Wine Association to carry out a program to display and introduce wines from various countries and proper wine storage methods.
4. Programme Vietnamese Coffee Convergence:Taking place from December 15, 2016 to December 18, 2016. The organizing committee coordinates with famous Vietnamese coffee units to build detailed activities (introducing and trying different types of coffee).
5. Time competition row Best and most loved:Starting from December 15, 2016 to December 18, 2016.The organizers encourage the units participating in the Festival to design beautiful booths according to the theme to attract the attention of participants and show the culinary culture of the country or territory that the booth represents. Visitors will vote for the best booth through text messages and online pages.
6. Dining area:starting from December 15, 2016 to December 18, 2016. The area to enjoy the dishes and culinary flavors is arranged separately to create a private and comfortable space for guests. The area to enjoy the dishes also creates a space for visitors to enjoy delicious and unique beers in the world; learn about the production process of different types of beer in Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic...
7. Culinary art photography exhibition:takes place from December 15, 2016 to December 18, 2016, showcasing culinary photography and artwork. Exhibition themes include:
- Area 1: recreates the image of a traditional Vietnamese meal from ancient times.
- Area 2: emphasizes the unique harmony and balance of yin and yang in Vietnamese culinary culture.
- Area 3: molecular gastronomy, the culinary art of the future.
- Area 4: cuisine of 5 continents.
8. 5-star chef festival:took place from 18:00 to 20:30 on December 17, 2016 with the participation of 20 5-star hotels and 02 high-class restaurants in the City. This year's 5-star Chef Festival with the theme“Season of Happiness” (Joyful Season). Units will display and introduce their unique culinary products to guests through arranging and displaying 01 dessert table -sweet cornerwith 01 wedding cake as the main theme. The program is organized to create conditions for 5-star hotels and high-end restaurants to promote their brands and services, especially the important role of culinary culture products for the services of 5-star hotels and high-end restaurants.
9. Exchange activities with MasterChef Vietnam:Starting from 10:00 to 11:30 on December 16, 2016, visitors will have the opportunity to interact and chat with Vietnam MasterChef 2013 Ngo Thanh Hoa.
In addition, on each day of the event, there will be programs to create interaction with visitors such as:
- Korean cooking class: takes place from 10:00 to 11:30 on December 15, 2016 by the World Culinary Culture Research Institute WFCC, guiding visitors to prepare kimchi and some traditional Korean dishes.
- Traditional food competition of different countries(from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on December 16, 2016);
- Mixing performance by Vietnam's top Bartenders (from 20:30 to 21:30 on December 16, 2016);
- Culinary performance from five continents(from December 16, 2016 to December 18, 2016).
Closing Ceremony and Award Presentation at 18:00 to 19:30 on December 18, 2016 at the main stage area.
