The culinary festival, the second of its kind held at IciVietnam so far, aimed to popularise the Vietnamese cuisine’s identities, fromstreet food to the dishes served in restaurants.
It saw the participation of 26 associations, businesses, andrestaurants of Vietnamese people in France such as Foyer Vietnam, Ba Noi, NgocXuyen, Thanh Binh Jeune, Tra Art, and France Plumfoot.
They offered many typical foods and beverages nationwide suchas “bun bo” (beef noodle soup), “bun tron” (mixed noodles), “nem cuon” (fresh springrolls), “nem ran” (fried spring rolls), Vietnamese sandwich, sugarcane juice,tea, and coffee.
Local residents were also attracted to this festival bysinging and dancing performances by Vietnamese-origin artists, along with folkgames and the introduction of some French - Vietnamese books.
Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang spoke highlyof the Ici Vietnam Festival, which showed the dynamism of the Vietnamese peoplein France and created momentum for more activities in 2023, when the twocountries will mark the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic tiesand the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership.
Florence Berthout, Mayor of the 5th Arrondissement, said the local administration and herself havealways supported cultural activities of the Vietnamese community, affirmingthat Vietnam possesses many special cultural identities, including cuisine,that many French people want to learn about and explore.
Vice Mayor Benjamin Isare expressedhis delight at the large number of visitors to the event despite the hotweather, which proved the attractiveness of Vietnamese food.
The Ici Vietnam Festival was an idea of a group of youngVietnamese-French people who wished to organise festive events on differentareas, from cinematography, arts to cuisine, to introduce Vietnamese culture tothe French. This idea has been supported by the Vietnamese People Associationin France and Foyer Vietnam and held annually since 2018./.