The festival marks the eight edition of the ‘Day of Pho’ held annually by daily newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth). It aims to popularise Vietnamese cuisine, with a specific focus on Pho, a popular Vietnamese dish consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat – usually beef or chicken.

At an event held in Ho Chi Minh City on July 29 to announce the festival, the organsing board said that main activities are scheduled to take place at Yeouido Park on October 5 - 6 and will feature a total of 40 booths from various brands in both Vietnam and the RoK.

As part of the festival, a series of promotional activities will be organised, such as a B2B matching session, a pho discovery event for Korean YouTubers and Pho lovers, an exhibition on the history of Pho, and traditional Vietnamese and Korean folk games.

Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi tre newspaper Le The Chu said that the festival is expected to introduce Vietnamese culinary cultural values to Korean people, promote the images and economic potential of Vietnam, and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Nguyen Dinh Dung, Counselor of the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK said that there are about 300,000 Vietnamese people living in the RoK and many Korean people know about Vietnam and have good sentiments to the country.

He noted that there are many Vietnamese Pho restaurants in the RoK but they hardly have any connections. The festival will be an important event to promote Vietnamese culture to Koreans as well as the international community in the RoK.

Chairman of the Board of Members of Saigontourist Group Pham Huy Binh said that his group’s Korean partners, including tourism firms and airlines, highly appreciate the festival and consider it a solution to strengthen cultural tourism exchanges and attract more Korean visitors to Vietnam in the coming time.

Last year, the festival was held in Japan, attracting 85,000 visitors./.VNA