Van Thanh to bring traditional foods, festivities to Saigonese

The Van Thanh Tourist Park of the Binh Quoi Tourism Village will organize a food and culture program called Ngay Hoi Que Toi (Festive Day in My Homeland) this weekend to introduce special dishes and traditional festivities of the North, Central and South regions to Saigonese.
The program will take place from 5:00 p.m to 9: 00 p.m on March 5, 6 and 7. Along with more than 100 dishes made by chefs of Binh Quoi, other chefs of tourist service providers in localities such as Can Tho, Ben Tre, Dong Thap, Gia Lai and Khanh Hoa will bring their special foods to the city’s people during the program.
Chiem Thanh Long, director of Binh Quoi Tourism Village, said this year’s program would add new dishes to the North region’s menu. For dishes of the Central region, Van Thanh will focus on dishes from Danang and Hoi An instead of promoting too many dishes of the whole region.
“We not only want to promote delicious dishes but also want to bring charms of rural markets, funny folk games, traditional music performances and images of trade villages to the city’s people,” Long said in a meeting to promote the program in Van Thanh on Friday.
The organizers will prepare colorful rural markets of the three regions. Via the rural markets, visitors will see the customs of the people of the regions, and the daily life of floating markets and vendors.
Visitors will have a chance to enjoy cheo (Vietnamese popular opera), gongs, Cham dances and Hue folk songs. Children and young people can try folk games such as making boats by arecas of banana, making toys by coconut and bamboo leaves, climbing the greasy pole and the bamboo pole dance.
Long said the food program would introduce craft villages, including villages to make wide baskets, or panniers, deep bamboo baskets and rice paper.
“Guests can see craftsmen of the banh hoi (steamed rolls made of rice-flour) Phu Long in Binh Thuan Province to make banh hoi in Van Thanh and then buy the food,” he said.
Tickets are VND170,000 per adult and there are coupons for guests to buy food and drink.
Contact Van Thanh Tourist Park at 48/10 Dien Bien Phu Street, Ward 22, Binh Thanh District, tel: 08 3512 3025.