Hundreds of traditional cakes are being showcased, promoted, and made available for visitors to enjoy at the 12th Southern Folk Cake Festival in Can Tho City, located in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

The fest kicked off at the square in Binh Thuy District on Friday and runs until Tuesday next week.

This year’s festival features a large-scale setup with 231 booths, including 118 showcasing folk cakes, 59 highlighting regional specialties, and 40 dedicated to various culinary delights. 

The event has attracted participants from 18 provinces in the Mekong Delta region, as well as the northern, central, and Central Highlands provinces, such as Ha Tinh, Hue, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, and Dak Lak.

One of the highlights of the festival this year is the space of the Thuan Hung rice paper craft village.

Besides, the event is treating guests, especially students, to hands-on experiences so that they can learn how to make various traditional southern cakes such as banh it (sticky rice dumplings), banh tet (cylindrical glutinous rice cakes), banh kep (a thin, crispy cake, often shaped like a fan or a circle, made from flour, eggs, and sugar), banh phuc linh (a sweet, powdery cake made from tapioca starch, coconut milk, and sugar) and banh tam se tay (a chewy, hand-rolled cassava cake resembling silkworms).

These activities are led by skilled artisans and are designed to engage visitors in the preservation of southern culinary traditions.

Some 100 artisans are participating in this year’s folk cake competition, demonstrating their craft and offering a diverse range of cakes for festival-goers to sample.

Apart from folk cakes, various regional dishes and hundreds of local specialties and One Commune, One Product items from across Vietnam are on display.

The Southern Folk Cake Festival is an annual event held in Can Tho to celebrate and preserve the cultural and culinary heritage of the city, the Mekong Delta, and other provinces throughout Vietnam. 

This event also serves as a cultural exchange platform for cities and provinces nationwide, providing an opportunity to honor and promote the traditional folk cakes and regional foods from various parts of Vietnam.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Diep, deputy chairwoman of the Can Tho People’s Committee, said that this year, the organizers had reduced booth rental fees by 25 percent, from VND8 million (US$310) to VND6 million ($232) per booth to encourage artisans to join and serve visitors.

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