Vietnamese cuisine honored as the most unique festival in the world

Saigontourist Group's culinary festival was honored for the third consecutive time as "World's Best Festival 2025" at the World Culinary Awards in Italy.

Vietnamese food festival wins double international awards

The Culinary Culture Festival of Saigontourist Group, the sole representative of Vietnam, has won two prestigious awards at the World Culinary Awards 2025, which took place on the island of Sardinia, Italy on the evening of October 23.

This event was honored as "Asia's Most Unique Food Festival 2025" and " World's Most Unique Food Festival 2025", thereby affirming the position of Vietnamese cuisine in the international arena.

Saigontourist Group representative received the award "World's Best Food Festival 2025" at the World Culinary Awards 2025 on the evening of October 23 in Sardina, Italy. Photo: Saigontourist Group

Making a mark on the global culinary map

The World Culinary Awards is a parallel event of the World Travel Awards, which is considered the "Oscar of the tourism industry". This year, among about 110 units honored globally, Saigontourist Group is the only Vietnamese representative to win two awards.

This is the third consecutive year (2023-2025) that Saigontourist Group's Festival has been honored as "The World's Most Unique Food Festival" and the fourth consecutive year (2022-2025) to receive the "Asia's Most Unique Food Festival" award. The award is based on strict criteria regarding scale, number of attendees, cultural experience and international media coverage.

Representatives of Saigontourist Group and the organizing committee took souvenir photos with the trophies "Asia's Most Unique Food Festival 2025" and "World's Most Unique Food Festival 2025" at the award ceremony on the evening of October 23. Photo: Saigontourist Group

The attraction of scale and cultural experience

The Saigontourist Group Food and Culture Festival 2025, held in March at Van Thanh Tourist Area, Ho Chi Minh City, recorded a record number of visitors with more than 70,000 people in four days. The event brought together more than 600 typical dishes and drinks from three regions of Vietnam, carefully selected by the group's member units.

Hue's signature mussel rice dish is served at this year's festival in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Saigontourist Group

The highlight of the festival is the reenactment of the floating market in the Southwest region, bringing a vibrant community cultural experience with activities "on the wharf, under the boat" and folk songs and verses.

The 2025 Festival attracted more than 70,000 visitors in 4 days. Photo: Saigontourist Group

Efforts to promote Vietnamese culture

In addition to domestic events, Saigontourist Group brought the Food Culture Festival to Osaka, Japan in June, attracting more than 100,000 visitors. The Group also co-organized the "Vietnam Pho Festival 2025" in Singapore, following the success in Japan (2023) and Korea (2024).

Mr. Truong Duc Hung, General Director of Saigontourist Group, said that the international awards are the motivation for the unit to continue promoting Vietnamese cuisine and culture. This award is also an important milestone in the group's 50-year journey of operation (1975–2025).

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/am-thuc-viet-nam-duoc-vinh-danh-le-hoi-dac-sac-nhat-the-gioi-397719.html