People are free to choose and eat all kinds of cakes from 3 regions to celebrate October 20.

The first Ho Chi Minh City Traditional Cake Festival, themed "Flavors of the Three Regions," was held from October 15-20 at the intersection of Le Loi and Nguyen Hue streets (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City).

The program aims to celebrate the diversity and richness of traditional Vietnamese cakes from the three regions of North, Central, and South Vietnam, along with the dedicated artisans who have poured their hearts and souls into preserving family traditions in each cake. Furthermore, the Ho Chi Minh City Traditional Cake Festival also serves as an occasion to celebrate the 94th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam Women's Union on October 20th.

Ms. Linh introduces the banh gia dish to customers.

The Vietnamese Traditional Cake Festival is an event connecting culinary cultures, bringing together folk artisans who make characteristic cakes from all three regions of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. By introducing traditional cakes to diners, the artisans hope that everyone will have a diverse discovery and be satisfied with the flavors when they come to enjoy them.

The program features approximately 100 stalls offering a variety of unique cakes and pastries such as tapioca dumplings, savory pancakes, shrimp cakes, and sticky rice cakes, interspersed with other varieties like willow leaf cakes and banana cakes.

Fresh ingredients are prepared directly by the artisans at the stall.

Ms. Tran Le Thi Hue Linh (49 years old) brought a type of "crispy outside, fluffy inside" cake to the food stall to introduce to customers. This is a famous specialty cake originating from Go Cong ( Tien Giang province ). Ms. Linh, from Can Tho city, has enjoyed this famous cake many times.

"The filling contains bean sprouts, but due to the hot weather in Southern Vietnam, it's difficult to preserve them. So, during the learning and innovation process, I replaced them with sweet potatoes. I hope everyone will enjoy and remember my cake. I've decided to keep the original name of the cake and add more creative ingredients and methods to suit the tastes of customers from many places," Ms. Linh said.

Banh gia (rice flour cake) is a popular choice among many diners.

Ms. Tran Thi Hong Loan (52 years old), from Hue, has previously introduced traditional cakes from the ancient capital at many programs and festivals. This time, she also personally prepared these specialty cakes for people in Ho Chi Minh City to learn about and enjoy. Her stall offered shrimp-filled tapioca dumplings, sticky rice cakes, shrimp-filled steamed rice cakes, and rice noodle soup made from green bananas served with crab and shrimp patties…

"I hope to spread the word about Hue cuisine to more diners, and moreover, to allow foreign tourists to access and enjoy the culture and cuisine of different regions," the woman shared.

Ms. Loan personally prepares the famous Hue-style cakes.

The cakes are diverse and colorful.

Ms. Hiep (59 years old), who has been living in the US since 1989, returned to Ho Chi Minh City this time to visit relatives and family. She came to the traditional cake festival to rediscover the flavors of Southern Vietnamese cakes after many years of separation.

"I like eating cakes with coconut milk, so I chose to buy types like steamed rice cakes and banana cakes... On previous trips back to Vietnam, there weren't any festivals about traditional cakes like this; I only went to Ben Thanh Market to eat sweet soup. These cakes are also sold abroad, but they don't taste as good or have the right flavor I want. Seeing all the delicious cakes at the stalls, I'll continue browsing and choose more types," Ms. Hiep expressed.

Ms. Le Thi Hong Dung (69 years old) makes shrimp-filled spring rolls by hand instead of buying them ready-made from stores so that more customers will know about her culinary skills.

The wrappers for the shrimp-filled spring rolls are handmade by skilled artisans.

Many types of cakes from the Mekong Delta region were available at the folk cake festival.

Ms. Tran Ngoc Su Mi (20 years old, residing in District 7) attended the traditional cake festival with her mother and said: "I read about this festival in the newspaper. There were many types of cakes I had never heard of before, so I was very curious to try them. On the first day, the stalls were very lively and offered a wide variety of cakes."

Su Mi (on the left) and her mother go to choose traditional cakes.

Su Mi and her mother stopped at a stall selling traditional Hue cakes.

Customers choose to buy cakes from the stalls.

The traditional folk cake festival will last for 6 days, from October 15th to 20th.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ngay-hoi-banh-dan-gian-tphcm-nguoi-dan-thoa-thich-chon-an-du-loai-banh-3-mien-mung-ngay-2010-185241015143722306.htm