Vietnamese in South Korea eager for Vietnam Phở Festival this weekend
Monday, September 30, 2024, 11:00 GMT+7
Vietnamese students and residents in South Korea are abuzz with online discussions following the announcement of the inaugural Vietnam Phở Festival 2024, set to take place in Seoul this weekend.
After impressing over 85,000 attendees at the Vietnam Phở Festival 2023 in Japan, the organizers want the Vietnamese signature dish to delight participants at this year’s festival, which will be held at Pie Factory, 441 Gwangnaru-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul on October 5 and 6.
There are approximately 300,000 Vietnamese people living in South Korea, and many have expressed excitement at the opportunity to enjoy the traditional taste of phở right in Seoul, encouraging one another to attend the festival and savor the authentic noodle soup, whether they are near or far from the venue.
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| Diners have a meal at a Vietnamese restaurant in South Korea. Photo: Y.C. |
The Vietnam Phở Festival 2024 will bring together Vietnam's top chefs and renowned phở brands such as Phở Dậu, Phở Phú Gia, Phở Sen, Phở Thìn Bờ Hồ - 1 Hàng Tre, and Phở Ta, among others.
The festival will showcase artists from both nations, offering vibrant performances and unique cultural exchanges, providing an additional draw for attendees.
Ngoc Pham, a Vietnamese who has lived in South Korea for seven years, noted that there are many Vietnamese phở restaurants in the country that offer a diverse range of flavors.
Among them, some restaurants regularly host Vietnamese cultural events, such as musical performances and Vietnamese language classes, attracting a large number of participants.
An important event for cultural and tourism exchange
At the press conference announcing the Vietnam Phở Festival 2024 in July, Nguyen Dinh Dung, counselor at the Vietnamese Embassy in South Korea, stated that the event carries significant meaning.
Dung added that while there are many Vietnamese phở restaurants and promotional activities in South Korea, they generally operate on an individual scale.
Therefore, the Vietnam Phở Festival 2024 is an important event that plays a meaningful role in promoting Vietnamese culture to Koreans as well as the international community in South Korea.
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| A poster of the Vietnam Phở Festival 2024 shows Vietnamese and Korean artists who will join the event in Seoul. |
According to Pham Huy Binh, chairman of Saigontourist Group and co-chair of the organizing board for the Vietnam Phở Festival 2024, the country is the leading international tourist market for Vietnam and is home to a large number of overseas Vietnamese.
Binh said that his group is proud to contribute to promoting the essence of Vietnamese cuisine to the world, thereby creating an interesting feature to attract more South Korean tourists to Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam.
“Our partners from leading travel and airline groups in South Korea were very enthusiastic when they heard about our plans for this event,” Binh said.
“Many see it as a key strategy to boost cultural and tourism exchanges and attract more South Korean visitors to Vietnam in the near future.”
The Vietnam Phở Festival 2024 is co-organized by the Embassy of Vietnam in South Korea, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, and Saigontourist Group under the direction of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.
The event is made possible through the collaboration of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, the Association of Vietnamese Communities in Korea, the Business Association of Vietnamese in Korea, and the Korea-Asia Economic Cooperation Association.
The Vietnam Phở Festival 2024 will feature a performance stage, along with nearly 70 booths including more than 40 offering phở and other Vietnamese and Korean delicacies.
Additionally, there will be spaces for cultural experiences, exhibitions, and showcases of Vietnamese cuisine and tourism.
With the slogan 'Enjoy Phở, Discover Vietnam,' the organizers aim to use the festival to promote people-to-people diplomacy, strengthen the friendship between the two nations, and highlight their culinary cultures.
They also hope to foster trade connections, leveraging the economic and tourism potential of both Vietnam and South Korea.
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