The “Thang Long Citadel cuisine in South Vietnam” Festival at Van Thanh Tourism Park would introduce "significant cultural traits and folk cuisine of the North," said Chiem Thanh Long, Director of Van Thanh Tourism Park. "We are getting ready a miniature of ancient Hanoi at the park."

The event, organised by the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will open on December 11. There will be a rural market, snack counter, temple festival, and traditional feast.

Visitors can enjoy delicacies like banh gai Hang Be (glutinous rice cake dyed black in a concoction of leaves made in Hang Be Street), banh gio Do Mang (pyramidal rice dumpling filled with meat, onion, and mushroom from a place called Madame Demange), banh com Hang Than (grilled cake of young rice in Hang Than Street), and banh tom (crisp shrimp pastry).

A death-anniversary feast and a wedding feast will be the highlights of the event.

"We will have artisans and officials from the Vietnam Cuisine Research Institute to make it a genuine northern feast," Long said.

"Every day we will serve only 40 tables of traditional feast, which will cost VND960,000 (US$52). Each table will have ten dishes serving six people."

Besides the food, daily Northern Vietnamese life will be depicted, including a market with street vendors in traditional costumes and calling out to passers-by, an exhibition of Vietnamese wines, and an exhibition of paintings and books about Thang Long, the country’s ancient capital.

Huynh Van Son, a department representative, said northern folk games would be on display, including Chinese chess, water puppetry, and wrestling.

There would be performances of ca tru (ceremonial singing), quan ho (love duet), hat xam (songs of an itinerant blind musician), and hat xoan (folk workship singing of Phu Tho Province), he added.

Around 8,000 visitors were expected at the festival, Long said. It will run from 4pm to 9pm on each of the three days.