A square in Nghĩa Lộ, in Vietnam's northern highlands, has turned into a national pantry. On October 16, the Mường Lò Culture and Tourism Festival 2026 opened a regional speciality exhibition at Gold Field Square, gathering produce from 10 provinces and cities — from Hà Nội and Hải Phòng in the north to Đà Nẵng, Khánh Hòa and Cà Mau in the centre and south.
The exhibition, about 400 square metres with 22 booths run by 21 organisations, businesses and cooperatives, sits inside the wider Northwest Tourism Fair 2026. It doubles as a showcase for OCOP — Vietnam's One Commune, One Product programme, which helps rural communities brand and sell local goods.
The shopping list alone is worth the trip. Think five-star OCOP-rated Cát Hải fish sauce, Ba Làng fish sauce and fermented shrimp paste, Hạ Long squid cakes, and bird's nest products from Nha Trang and Cà Mau, alongside agarwood, medicinal herbs and handicrafts. Lào Cai's own specialties get pride of place too: Suối Giàng Shan Tuyết tea from ancient tea trees, Séng Cù rice, Giới Phiên dong vermicelli, Sa Pa salmon floss and Mạnh Hương turmeric starch.
This isn't a static trade show. The space is built from bamboo and other natural materials, with live craft demonstrations, ethnic costume displays, tastings, cultural performances and photo spots where you can talk directly to producers. A dedicated livestreaming area streams the products and destinations to online audiences, and the fair also promotes tours and travel services across the northwestern region.
For travellers, it's a rare chance to taste Vietnam's full culinary range in one mountain-town square while getting a genuine look at the daily life and cultures of the northwest's ethnic communities. For local producers, it's a marketplace: the event aims to link agriculture with tourism, raise product value and create rural livelihoods — which means your purchases and tastings directly support the people who make them.
If you're heading to Sa Pa or Lào Cai's wider northwest, timing a visit around the festival adds food, performance and craft traditions you won't find on the standard mountain-loop itinerary.
