The annual festival aims to promote southern food.

The festival brought together nearly 40 units and enterprises showcasing food and beverages at 70 booths. The specialities were divided into three unique culinary styles: the central – Central Highland cuisine, Saigon’s cuisine and Southern eastern and western cuisine.
Vietnamese and foreign visitors to this year’s event could also taste and learn how to cook various kinds of traditional Vietnamese food as well as join in numerous talks held by culinary experts.
The highlight of the festival will be the space introducing street food in Saigon from the past and present. In addition to popular food reminiscent of the childhood of local people, numerous dishes associated with the busy and integrated life, including specialities of foreign countries, are being promoted.
A market of clean agricultural products, performances of Cham traditional arts, and folk games such as sack races, blind-man's-bluff, and tug of war, will also be held during the five-day event. During the festival there will be a cooking contest for participating units, a fruit sculpture competition and a contest on designing the mostbeautiful and impressive booths.
In addition, the event will also feature a photo exhibition on the multi-sensory cooking of southern dishes. Ten troupes of don ca tai tu (Southern folk music) will perform throughout the five days of the event.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tien emphasised that the annual event aims to promote the flavour of Vietnamese food, particularly the flavours found in the southern region, to both domestic and foreign visitors.
Last year, in five days of the 6th Southern Culinary Festival attracted nearly 80,000 visitors, featuring hundreds of dishes from south Vietnam, aims to honor Vietnamese dishes and promote local cuisine to domestic and international visitors.