Vietnamese flavours shine at Prague culinary festival
Vietnam’s presence stood out with five well-decorated booths featuring the national flag, conical hats, silk paintings, and traditional ceramics - all reflecting the country’s rich heritage and cultural openness.
Prague (VNA) ✅- Vietnam has made a vibrant impression at the 8th International Cultural and Culinary Festival held on June 7 at Victory Square in Prague’s district 6.
Jointly organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic along with TAMDA FOODS, Linsan, and the Czech-Vietnamese Educational Centre, this year’s festival brought together participants from 56 countries, offering a platform to showcase diverse cultural identities through cuisine, music, and traditional arts.
Vietnam’s presence stood out with five well-decorated booths featuring the national flag, conical hats, silk paintings, and traditional ceramics - all reflecting the country’s rich heritage and cultural openness.
Vietnamese cuisine captivated thousands of visitors with popular dishes such as crispy spring rolls, noodle with beef, iced milk coffee, and fresh coconut water - each embodying elements of regional traditions and customs.
Notably, for the first time at a European festival, Vietnam introduced key seafood products, highlighting the quality and export potential of its agro-seafood in the European market.
In addition to culinary offerings, Vietnam’s booths featured traditional music performances and folk dances, drawing crowds and enhancing cross-cultural appreciation.
Ambassador Duong Hoai Nam highlighted the festival’s significance as a platform not only for promoting Vietnamese cuisine but also for enhancing the country’s image and cultural identity. He noted that such initiatives help foster mutual understanding and people-to-people ties, particularly as Vietnam and the Czech Republic strengthen relations following the upgrade to a strategic partnership in January 2025.
Foreign visitors enjoy Vietnamese food (Photo: VNA)
This year’s edition attracted around 15,000 visitors, many of them expressed their enthusiasm for Vietnamese dishes and a desire to explore more of the country’s cuisine.
The festival is part of a series of activities marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Czech Republic (February 2, 1950 – 2025), and underscores Vietnam’s active role in international cultural exchange. The event was held under the auspices of the Czech Senate, the Chamber of Deputies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Prague's district 6 authorities./.
The Vietnamese booth attracted a large number of visitors with traditional dishes imbued with national identity such as fried spring rolls, coffee, lemon tea and lemongrass tea. Not only impressing visitors with its unique flavor of Vietnamese food and drinks, the Vietnamese booth was also highly appreciated for its intimate and sophisticated decoration, honouring the beauty of Vietnamese culture.
Vietnamese enterprises bring to the event high-quality products that meet international standards as well as the fair's criteria regarding innovation and creativity in the food and beverage sector.
As part of the national trade promotion programme, the Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment sent a delegation of 27 businesses to participate in the Vietnamese booth at Foodex Japan 2025.
The Vietnamese team will gather on June 26 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, where they will train until July 14 before departing for Indonesia for the ASEAN U23 Championship 2025, which runs from July 15 to 29. Vietnam will face Laos on July 19 and Cambodia on July 22 in the group stage.
The exhibition showcases more than 100 valuable documents and artifacts, divided into two main parts: “Journalist Nguyen Ai Quoc – Ho Chi Minh” and “President Ho Chi Minh – Founder and Mentor of Vietnamese Revolutionary Press.” This is an opportunity to recall the late leader’s journalism journey and affirm his exceptional role in founding and guiding the revolutionary press in Vietnam.
For the first time, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) has granted Vietnam hosting rights for the two championships, including the Asian women’s solo category, which debuts this year as an officially recognised event.
Eight teams will join the tournament, divided into two groups. Group A features Vietnam, the Philippines, Sichuan Club (China), and Australia, while Group B consists of Vietnam U21, Korabelka Club (Russia), Taiwan (China), and U21 Thailand.
Despite strong home support and high expectations, Vietnam were unable to overcome the defending champions, who secured their third consecutive win over Vietnam in a regional final, following previous victories in 2014 and 2023.
The event, part of Vietnam’s cultural diplomacy strategy through 2030, was jointly organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Venezuela and USM’s Faculty of International Relations. It attracted thousands of students from universities across Venezuela.
For the first time, Vietnamese audiences will have the opportunity to experience the ballet masterpiece "Don Quixote" in its original version by renowned choreographer Marius Petipa.
The contest carried deep meaning as it was the first time the life of Vietnamese women abroad had been highlighted as the central theme, said poet and writer Nguyen Quang Thieu, Chairman of the Vietnam Writers’ Association.
The event formed part of Vietnam’s ongoing campaign to seek UNESCO World Heritage status for the complex at the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, scheduled to take place in Paris in July.
Creative cultural festivals are fast emerging as a new catalyst for tourism development in Vietnam, as localities increasingly invest in these vibrant events on a more systematic and larger scale.
This marks the first time Vietnam has hosted a continental-level Muay event which will feature competitions across 28 weight categories in combat and eight performance categories.
Coming to the Vietnamese booth, visitors had the chance to take part in a bamboo dance, a workshop on painting woven bamboo or rattan, or quizzes about Vietnam.
These are impressive achievements, not only showing the efforts and prowess of Vietnamese paddlers but also serving as proof of the sports sector’s strategic and systematic investment.
The cultural event in Canberra not only fostered cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Australia but also contributed to promoting Vietnam’s image internationally
The U23 competition will run from June 16 to 22, followed by the U17 event from June 23 to 28, while athletes competing in the U23 category will undergo weight and skill checks ahead of the matches starting June 18, while similar checks for U17 athletes will take place before June 23.
Vietnam continues to sit just behind continental powerhouses Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, China, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
