Hanoi Set to Host Vegan Food Festival in 2024

The event aims to promote a healthy lifestyle which is also good for the environment.

It will feature more than 130 booths showcasing a range of vegan dishes from different regions throughout the country and foreign nations, cited VOV. The dishes are cooked in a creative way using organic products, environmentally friendly goods, and environmental solutions and services.

Vegan Food Festival 2024 is to take place in Hanoi in January. Photo: Shutterstock

Along with pavilions offering diverse vegan products, visitors can join various interesting and exciting activities, including making vegan banh chung (square glutinous rice cake), as well as drawing lacquer paintings, and making calligraphy letters.

Furthermore, traditional folk games such as ca kheo (walking on stilts) and keo co (tug of war) will also be held as part of the occasion.

Most notably, there will be a talk show involving the participation of leading nutrition experts, doctors, and singers, providing knowledge of practical methods that can protect people’s health and the environment.

From aromatic noodles, world-famous soups, hearty rice dishes, and finger-licking street food – vegan nom in Vietnam is colorful, fresh, and damn tasty. On top of this markets are filled with a rainbow of tropical fruits, you’ll find dedicated vegan shops with a baffling variety of meat-free products and everything is cheap.

In each region, locals have a slightly distinct flavor preference that applies to vegan cuisine. For example, people in the south season foods sweeter than in the other areas, while in Central Vietnam, local preferences are a bit more salty and spicy. Northern people have a more balanced flavor and utilize diverse herbal and medical elements.

Vegan bun in a street vendor. Photo by Huong Pham/Unsplash

But notice that, except in big cities, it gets harder to find vegan eaters as you travel north. There are way more people in the south and the south-central part (from Hue to Ca Mau) adopting a vegan diet than in the north.

As vegan eating in Vietnam originates from the practice of Buddhism, a few commit to a fully vegan diet as a Buddhist practice of being merciful to other species. However, the majority are partially vegan, which means each lunar month, they only eat two or four days in a vegan diet (on the full-moon day and new moon day, note that you can check the lunar calendar online.). So during that time, many non-vegan vendors switched to making vegan dishes.

Vietnam cuisine is famous for Pho and Bun Bo; these dishes also have vegan versions, which you can find almost anywhere, at any vegan restaurant in the country. Popular noodle dishes are Mi Quang Chay (vegan Mi Quang), Hu Tieu chay (vegan Hu Tieu), Bun Rieu Chay (vegan Crab paste vermicelli), and Bun Gao Xao (vegan stir-fried rice vermicelli).

Whole grain red rice with nuts and vegetables. Photo by Here & Now Vegetarian

The variety of vegan dining places is much better in big cities, especially in the south, such as Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang, or Hue. As you travel to non-tourism areas, there are primarily small eateries or Buddhist temples that offer you vegan food. Or else, you might have to ask for vegan dishes at normal (meat-based) restaurants.

If there is no English menu (or no menu), you can write it down, use online translation, or search the food image and show the restaurant. Please tell them carefully about putting only plant ingredients because they might add eggs, fish sauce, or meat-based spices/sauces into the dish.