Many foreign visitors enjoy tasting Vietnamese cuisine accompanied by fish sauce while participating in the Fish Sauce Festival at Nguyen Hue Walking Street.
The first traditional Fish Sauce Festival takes place over five days from October 23 to October 27 in the central area of Nguyen Hue Walking Street, attracting many curious foreign tourists to come and explore.
Maria, a French tourist visiting Ho Chi Minh City for the first time, shared that she stumbled upon the festival while walking at the intersection of Nguyen Hue and Le Loi. Initially, she mistook the fish sauce festival for an outdoor food court. After walking around, she realized it was a festival themed around fish sauce.
Maria and her boyfriend explore Vietnamese dishes at a fish sauce festival on Nguyen Hue Street, HCMC, October 2024.
Photo by VnExpress/Bich Phuong
Maria stated that she is "no stranger" to fish sauce because she often visits Vietnamese restaurants in France, where most dishes are seasoned with this ingredient. She also uses fish sauce to cook various Asian dishes.
"In France, I usually buy fish sauce at Asian supermarkets, sometimes at Vietnamese supermarkets, priced around 3-4 euros (82,000-109,000 VND) per bottle," Maria said, adding that she might buy a few bottles of fish sauce at the festival.
Thomas (R) enjoys Vietnamese mini pancakes banh can with a sweet and sour fish sauce dip at the fish sauce festival on Nguyen Hue Street, HCMC, October 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Bich Phuong
Thomas, another French tourist, shared that he frequently visits Vietnam and has known about fish sauce since he was a child, as there are many Vietnamese restaurants in France. Thomas and his friend also happened to walk by the walking street and stopped by the festival. They enjoyed banh xeo (Vietnamese pancakes) and banh can (mini pancakes), dipping them in sweet and sour fish sauce.
He noted that Vietnamese fish sauce is unique because it can create many different flavors when combined with other ingredients like garlic, chili, sugar, and lime.
"Fish sauce is also very easy to eat and doesn’t have a strong smell, making it suitable for cooking Asian dishes," Thomas said.
Food booth at the fish sauce festival on the evening of October 23. Photo: Bich Phuong
The Fish Sauce Festival features over 150 booths showcasing and promoting products from traditional fish sauce producers across the country. Additionally, the event includes food stalls selling street food and regional dishes that use fish sauce as a key ingredient, as well as a section recreating the fish sauce production process. Throughout the five days, there will also be cooking demonstrations aimed at promoting and honoring fish sauce to both locals and tourists.
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