Ho Chi Minh City River Festival wins more international awards

The Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2025 will take place from the end of November, promising an explosive experience. (Photo: Organizer)

The event marked the first time a city festival in Vietnam won a double award in the world's creative arena, affirming Ho Chi Minh City's efforts in shaping a regional and world-class tourism-cultural -economic model.

Conquer prestigious global awards

The International Business Awards (IBA) is one of the world's most prestigious awards under the US Stevie Awards system, described by the New York Post as "The Oscars of the business world". In 2025, the IBA attracted more than 3,800 nominations from 78 countries and territories, with the participation of thousands of leading global organizations, corporations, brands and media businesses.

This is also a source of pride for the Organizing Committee, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism as well as Newday Media, the unit that produced the opening art program "Legendary Train" - a testament to the creativity of the Vietnamese tourism industry on the international stage.

The IBA 2025 Awards ceremony took place on October 10 (local time) in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo: Organizing Committee)

The IBA 2025 jury highly appreciated the strategic vision, scale of organization and cultural-economic-tourism influence of the program. One judge commented: “The Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2024 is a pioneering model in combining heritage, tourism and economic development. The inspiring storytelling has transformed the identity of the river city into the leading cultural-commercial convergence point in the region.”

Another review called “The Legendary Train” “an iconic cultural achievement, transforming the Saigon River into a vibrant stage celebrating Vietnamese heritage and global creativity.”

The program's general director, Ms. Le Hai Yen, shared: "We are proud to have brought home prestigious awards with the city, demonstrating the influence of the River Festival not only domestically but also internationally. This success is a strong motivation for the program team to constantly innovate and bring more and more impressive programs, contributing to affirming the position of Ho Chi Minh City as a modern, dynamic and unique river city."

Journey to affirm brand stature

Launched in 2023, the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival is a strategic initiative of the city's Department of Tourism, not only bringing unique tourism experiences, but also opening up a new approach in developing community tourism, connecting people with the city's cultural and economic flow.

Over the years, the festival's typical activities have been loved and awaited by the public, such as: Boat parade on the river, reenactment of the western floating market, water sports tournament, art performances, and waterway tourism stimulus program...

Consecutive festival seasons have recorded impressive results: In 2023, more than 210,000 visitors were welcomed, including 91,000 international visitors; in 2024, more than 4.5 million people participated; 1.3 million tourists, including 121,000 international visitors, with estimated tourism revenue of VND 4,250 billion.

Ho Chi Minh City River Festival has been honored with a series of prestigious domestic and international awards, including:

Kotler Awards 2024 : The award was voted by a panel of more than 50 leaders and prestigious experts in many fields, recognizing the comprehensive impact and significance of the festival in promoting the image of the destination. The Ho Chi Minh City River Festival was honored in the Impactful Destination category.

International Business Awards 2024 : The opening musical “The River Tells Stories” produced by Newday Media for the first festival season won the Gold Award in the Arts, Entertainment & Community-Cultural Events category, marking the first time the “Ho Chi Minh City River Festival” brand was known to the international community.

Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Award 2025 : The festival was awarded First Prize in the field of economic development, thanks to its creativity in combining culture, tourism and economy, contributing to affirming the position of Ho Chi Minh City as a modern river city rich in identity.

International Business Awards 2025 : The festival received a double Gold Award in the Arts, Entertainment & Public Festival category for the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2024 and the Cultural Event category for the opening program “The Legendary Train”.

Success in the international arena is a stepping stone for Ho Chi Minh City to continue developing the River Festival as a unique cultural-tourism product, constantly innovating so that each festival season is both an annual event and a media-economic boost for the city.

According to the Organizing Committee, the 3rd season of the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival in 2025 will take place with the theme "Cross-space bridge" scheduled from November 29 to December 31, 2025, expanding in scale to many locations in the city: Nha Rong Khanh Hoi area - Saigon port, Bach Dang park, Saigon riverside park, Ngoi Sao Viet wharf (Tan Hung ward), Crescent Lake area - Phu My Hung urban area (Tan My ward) and other tourist areas and destinations in the city.

The festival brings to the public attractive cultural and artistic spaces, combining tradition and modernity. (Photo: Organizing Committee)

To meet public expectations, the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2025 will have many special activities: Performance of model boats with light and artistic heritage on the river; parade of tourist boats on the river; space on the wharf and under the boat recreating floating market activities on the river; Binh Duong culture-culinary-tourism week, Carnival-street parade in Ba Ria-Vung Tau...

The event will combine activities to stimulate waterway tourism, shopping promotions, art performance incentives and regional connections, promising to bring a colorful festival space imbued with river identity.

MY HANH

Source: https://nhandan.vn/le-hoi-song-nuoc-thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-xuat-sac-gianh-them-giai-thuong-quoc-te-post914985.html