NAM ĐỊNH — Việt Nam Phở Festival 2024 kicked off this morning at Vân Cù Village, Nam Trực District, Nam Định Province.

Chefs guide visitors to make a traditional bowl of phở. — Photo courtesy of Việt Nam Phở Festival 2024's organisers

Thousands of visitors attended the Vân Cù phở village programme, learning how to make a bowl of phở, experiencing hand-rolling phở noodles, and enjoying delicious bowls of phở.

The organisers have prepared nearly five quintals of phở noodles to make more than 3,000 bowls of phở to serve visitors.

Nam Định Province's Vân Cù village is referred to as the "fatherland of Phở". Here, the phở trade has been practised by several generations, dating back to the early 20th century. Many families in Vân Cù have been in the traditional trade for up to four generations.

Nam Định Culinary Culture Association honoured elderly artisans in the village and awarded certificates to more than 50 Vân Cù villagers to use the logo of Nam Định Culinary Culture Association and Vân Cù Phở Association, promoting cultural heritage, especially culinary cultural heritage.

"The festival is significant to me and the people of Vân Cù village. Even though we are working far away from our home village, we have united and supported each other to preserve the phở profession of our ancestors," said Cồ Như Thiều, a phở artisan at Vân Cù village.

"Phở, the historical story of phở and other traditional cultural values ​​in Vân Cù village will help this locality develop tourism, if promotion work is done better. Nam Định's cultural and culinary elements can be combined with the experience of natural landscapes in neighbouring localities to create an attractive tour for tourists," said Lã Quốc Khánh, Vice President of Việt Nam Culinary Culture Association.

At a solemn ceremony to commemorate Vân Cù village's saint and hope for a prosperous new year, the residents of the village also organised a procession and held a worship ritual at the common house.

Phở Festival 2024 and the Vân Cù phở village programme take place until March 17 at the village and in downtown Nam Định City. — VNS