Visitors observe traditional silk weaving craft at the festival. — Photo laodong.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội Culinary, Craft Village and Craft Street Tourism Festival 2025 wrapped up on December 14 night after four days of lively and diverse activities.

The festival is a major tourism promotion initiative designed to honour, preserve and promote the values of traditional craft villages and trade streets, while highlighting the capital’s destinations and distinctive culinary heritage. Held under the theme “Hundreds of Crafts, Thousands of Flavours,” the event drew more than 30,000 visitors, including a significant number of international tourists.

Spanning an area of about 5,000 sq.m and inspired by the imagery of Hà Nội's old streets and ancient houses, the festival comprised three main spaces: a craft village and trade street tourism area, a Hà Nội culinary heritage area, and a destination promotion area.

The craft village and trade street tourism space featured product displays and live demonstrations from well-known craft villages such as Bát Tràng ceramics, Vạn Phúc silk, Chuông village conical hats, Chàng Sơn fans and Hạ Thái lacquerware. The trade street section recreated scenes from Hà Nôi's historic streets, featuring stories of Hàng Mã Street during the Lunar New Year Festival and calligraphers writing festive characters. Watercolour paintings and artistic photographs offered fresh perspectives on Hà Nội through the works of artists and photographers devoted to the city. Artisans and skilled craftsmen also guided visitors in hands-on experiences of key production processes.

The Hà Nội culinary heritage space presented traditional offerings including the Bát Tràng ceremonial feast, West Lake lotus tea, and craft village specialties such as Vòng village green young sticky rice, Phú Thượng sticky rice, Thanh Trì steamed rice rolls and Ước Lễ pork sausage, alongside iconic Hà Nội dishes such as phở, egg coffee, shrimp fritters and freshwater snail noodles. Throughout the festival, artisans and chefs demonstrated and shared culinary techniques with the public.

Meanwhile, the destination promotion space showcased images of Hà Nội's renowned heritage and tourist attractions, including the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel, the Temple of Literature, the One Pillar Pagoda and the Hà Nội Flag Tower. It also introduced distinctive tours, travel routes and tourism products, as well as souvenirs and promotional programmes offered by travel agencies, accommodation providers and tourist sites. Prominent craft villages such as Bát Tràng, Vạn Phúc, Chuông, Chàng Sơn, Hạ Thái and Phú Vinh were vividly presented through product displays, live demonstrations and interactive experiences.

This year’s festival brought together 10 representative craft villages and trade streets, nearly 30 artisans and master craftsmen, along with representatives from tourism and culinary businesses, accommodation establishments and tourist destinations in the capital. Visitors and local residents were able to directly take part in traditional craft activities, interact with artisans, try Hà Nội foods, and enjoy a wide array of engaging culinary and artistic performances. — VNA/VNS