With the theme “The sweetness of the Western region”, My Khanh Fruit - Cake Festival has more than 100 stalls, including about 40 stalls displaying folk cakes and specialties of Can Tho city such as O Mon, Co Do, Vinh Thanh, Thot Not, Binh Thuy, Phong Dien and provinces in the Mekong Delta region like Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, An Giang…

Ms. Do Thi Nga (Co Do district) participated in the festival with her traditional fermented glutinous rice, happily said: “Previously, I only make fermented glutinous rice and sell it in my hometown. This time, I have the opportunity to travel away from home and introduce to many people my family's traditional craft, so I’m very happy ”. Ms. Do Thi Nga's family has maintained the craft of making fermented glutinous rice for many generations, but only the people around her know it.

Many award-winning artisans at Southern folk cake events also participated at the My Khanh Fruit - Cake Festival. Artisan Huynh Ngoc Lan (Soc Trang Province), who won the Gold Medal of the Folk Cake Contest in the framework of the Southern Folk Cake Festival 2018, said: “This festival, I will introduce some new folk cakes such as gourd cake, carrot cake, etc. Events like these keep me motivated to keep my trade and introduce new folk cakes to customers”.

Huynh Thuy Vi (left), the Tourism Ambassador of Can Tho city, tries making folk cakes at the festival.

The festival has connected between visitors and traditional culinary culture. The organizing board endeavors to gather artisans to make hundreds of types of folk cakes of the Kinh, Hoa, Cham, and Khmer ethnic groups. Therefore, the festival really becomes the connecting point of artisans from near and far. It is also a place for visitors to learn and try delicious cakes and fruits of the South. Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, a tourist from Hanoi city, said: “Thanks to the festival, I can taste the specialties of the Western region which are very diverse and unique, and meet many skillful artisans. The artisans also show visitors the sophisticated and interesting processing of making some folk cakes ”. Mrs. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, said: “I feel lucky because I come here on the right occasion, have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of special fruits and cakes, some are unique and unfamiliar to me, some are only in childhood memory”.

One of the specialties attracting tourists is Tra Cuon Co Ba Giang (Tra Vinh) cylindrical glutinous rice cake. Not only has the delicious taste typical of the Western culinary culture, but the dish is also even more attractive thanks to the skillful hands of artisan Nguyen Thi Mum (Tu Mum) when she demonstrates the process of making the cake from natural ingredients with the harmony of colors. Ms. Tu Mum said: “My family has been making cylindrical glutinous rice cake for a long time. In 1998, we established our own brand. The ingredients for making this dish are carefully selected. The color of the dish is made from vegetables, so it is very safe. This is the first time I participate in the festival, so I hope Tra Cuon Co Ba Giang cylindrical glutinous rice cake will promote Tra Vinh's cuisine and bring this family's dish to visitors near and far”.

At the festival, visitors also have the opportunity to discover many unique products such as coconut nectar, coconut candy, sweet macapuno strings (Tra Vinh), mulberry (An Giang), custard apple tea, seedless jackfruit (Can Tho), purple longan (Phong Dien) ... Tra Vinh province brings many unique, novel and environmentally friendly products to the festival. Mr. Thach Ngoc, the representative of SOKFARM (Tra Vinh), said: “SOKFARM brings to the event products made from coconut nectar which is purely natural and good for health”.

Trung Nhan Natural Color Factory also brings natural colors refined from plants, flowers, leaves, fruits, and seeds. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thao, the representative of Trung Nhan Natural Color Production Facility, said: “Natural color is good for consumers’ health, especially children. Therefore, we expect that participating in the festival will open up opportunities to interact with many food manufacturers, thereby cooperating to create healthy, safe, and environmentally friendly foods and products”.

Tra Cuon Co Ba Giang (Tra Vinh) cylindrical glutinous rice cake

Mr. Tran Duy Linh, Director of Cau Ke Wax Coconut (Macapuno) Processing Co., Ltd. (VICOSAP), said: “At this event, we want to promote the local specialty of wax coconut with more diverse product lines such as wax coconut caramels with three flavors, or sweet macapuno strings. Sweet macapuno strings is the latest research of the company, still maintains its nutritional content and is first present in Vietnam ”.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Hoang, Deputy General Director of My Khanh Tourist Village, said: “The festival aims to honor the creative work of artisans, typical products of the Mekong Delta, and spread the cultural features that have been passed down for generations to tourists, especially young ones. We want to contribute to preserving, introducing, and promoting local features and specialties to visitors. In the long term, we also expect the festival to be an annual event, gradually creating a highlight for tourism in Phong Dien district in particular and Can Tho city in general. Since then, spreading the spirit of preserving the traditional cultural quintessence through cuisine and specialties of the Southwestern region”.

The festival is held in My Khanh Tourist Village, so visitors can also participate in many recreational activities and folk games such as pig racing, dog racing, bottle-feeding fish, cans knockdown, hopscotch, pulling the spathe of the areca tree (a kind of tug of war) or take check-in photos at flower gardens, with the background of the Southern rural village.

The My Khanh Fruit - Cake Festival, organized by an enterprise, has attracted many people and received good reviews from visitors near and far. It is because the festival has approached the tastes of many visitors, bringing many new experiences from entertainment to enjoying delicious food and unique specialties from many localities in the Mekong Delta. The festival really leaves a good impression, contributing to diversifying events, creating a highlight in the tourism development of Can Tho city.