Culture and food festival welcomes back nightlife lovers

The hustle and bustle of the night market, the smell of grilled meat bursting in the smoke in the barbecue streets at night, and the sound of clinking beer glasses are the specialities that tourists can experience when coming to Vietnam.

Eating at night and street food are also features that have now been revived after a long time of stagnation due to the pandemic.

Recovery of nightlife

Vietnam is considered one of the destinations with interesting nightlife tourism products – which is a motivation to attract foreign tourists.

No matter if in Saigon, Khanh Hoa, Kon Tum, or Dak Lak, it is easy to see the lively nightlife with crowds gathering at night markets. The reappearance of street food in combination with special entertainment activities proved the recovery of Vietnam's tourist sector.

The Saigon Night festival organised by Saigon Beer – which is a brand of SABECO – in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union is one of the programmes to prolong nightlife activities in the city.

Saigon Night has aroused and stirred up the culinary culture in each destination. Hundreds, even thousands of people, enjoyed the street food with diverse menus and enjoyed the lively atmosphere of the festival.

Quoc Khanh from Dak Nong shared, "In the social isolation period, I missed parties on sidewalk restaurants and meals at midnight. When I knew that Saigon Night will come back, my friends and I were excited because we missed barbecues, beer, and music."

Extending efforts to promote culture and tourism

Activities such as the Saigon Night festival are outstanding activities to respond to the government’s call to promote the recovery and development of culture, sports, and tourism in Vietnam.

This year, according to the government’s decision to comprehensively open the tourism industry from March 15, Vietnam aims to welcome 65 million domestic and foreign tourists, bringing in VND400 trillion ($17.39 billion) in revenue and restarting the entire tourism industry after two years.

After a long time of separation, people in the provinces are excited about local cultural events, such as Saigon Night. The number of visitors doubled last year. Saigon Night attracted about 600-700 guests per night, even up to over 1,000 people on weekends.

A representative of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union said, "The enthusiasm of the locals is a great source of encouragement for us. Responding to the government’s strategy to restore culture, sports, and tourism, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union always strives to bring interesting entertainment and programmes to the community, with the desire to attract the participation of residents and tourists at home and abroad.”

Through the cooperative efforts of brands like Saigon Beer and other organisations and agencies, practical and meaningful activities will continue to offer people an interesting playground to enjoy the unique culinary culture of the Vietnamese at night.