The biggest ever program of food and cultural activities from throughout Vietnam will take place on January 6-8, 2006 at Van Thanh Tourist Park.

Ngay Hoi Que Toi - Festivities In My Home Land - is the name of the program, and it comprises those folk games, crafts, and traditional dishes that are on the brink of being forgotten. The whole tourist site will resemble a traditional village. Participants will have the chance to revive childhood memories of life away from the city.

The reproduced village market will allow the appearance of nearly all the traditional costumes of the peoples of Vietnam. At this market, visitors will see people carrying food on shoulder poles and will hear their crying out to attract buyers.

Such folk games like human rooster fighting, stick pushing, breaking earthen pots while blindfolded, bull carriage race, climbing oily columns, cock fighting, dancing on a bamboo frame and many more will be shown. Children will have the chance to watch traditional toys and make their own. Many kinds of folk music will be performed.

Another attraction is the participation of craftsmen who have been invited by the organizers to show their skills at the miniature craft village. There will be bamboo basket framing, mat weaving, wine making, coconut candy making, and the making of other traditional cakes in preparation for the Tet holiday.

More than 100 dishes that are typical of places throughout Vietnam, especially those of the northwestern region and highlands, will be there to enjoy. Some of the dishes appearing at the festival this time are introduced to visitors for the first time, such as Bac Lieu noodles in fermented fish soup, Soc Trang chicken salad noodles, Tra Vinh noodle soup, Long An porridge with bitter vegetable, Can Tho freshwater fish baked in bamboo logs, Cho Huyen pickled pork, Ninh Hoa grilled meat paste, Quy Nhon noodles in fried fish paste, Ninh Binh rare goat meat dipped in local fermented soya bean, Tay Bac rice steamed in bamboo logs, eggplants, bitter pig giblets and so on.

These special dishes will be prepared by top cooks Bui Thi Suong and Nguyen Doan Cam Van. There will also be seminars on Vietnamese-style food preparations and cuisine.

The festival is expected to have some 4,000 visitors. Therefore, it is considered the biggest program of its kind held in Vietnam.

Many Ho Chi Minh City people are expected to take their Viet kieu relatives to the festival so that they can satisfy their nostalgia.

Tickets for adults are at VND109,000 and for children VND79,000. The festival runs from 3p.m. to 10p.m. on January 6, 7 and 8.

Van Thanh Tourist Park: 48/10 Dien Bien Phu St., Ward 22, Binh Thanh Dist., HCM City. Tel: (84-8) 512 3026

(Source: Saigontimes)