A street festival in Hwaseong, a city in South Korea's Gyeonggi province, turned food into diplomacy on October 18 — and this year Vietnamese cuisine was the guest of honour. The world culinary culture festival, held in the city's Manse district, brought together local residents and foreign communities for a day of cooking, tasting and cultural exchange, with the Vietnamese Association in Hwaseong playing a leading role in organising it.
The centrepiece was a hands-on demonstration of traditional Vietnamese fresh spring rolls. Dignitaries and guests didn't just watch — they rolled up their sleeves and wrapped the rice paper themselves, filling it with colourful fresh vegetables before sitting down to eat the results together. For the organisers, the dish was more than a snack: the shared act of wrapping and eating was framed as a symbol of harmony between the different communities that call Hwaseong home.
Speeches at the opening leaned into that idea. Hong Nomi, head of Manse district, described the street festival as more than a food event — a space where cultures get to know each other through what's on the plate. He reiterated Hwaseong's ambition to be an inclusive city where diverse communities add energy to local commerce and daily life. From the Vietnamese side, Nguyễn Thị Thái Bình, Minister Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in the Republic of Korea, argued that cuisine is one of the most effective languages for connecting cultures, and credited the local Vietnamese community with using the festival to showcase dishes, family traditions and community bonds to their Korean neighbours.
The event also had a softer purpose: giving the sizeable Vietnamese community in Hwaseong a platform to share traditional dishes and keep its cultural identity visible, while positioning itself as a bridge between the two countries. With Vietnam and South Korea having upgraded ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the embassy made clear it intends to keep working with local authorities on exactly this kind of people-to-people programming.
Why should a traveller care? Because the best cultural experiences often happen far from the usual Seoul-Busan circuit. Gyeonggi province surrounds the capital and is easy to reach, and cities like Hwaseong — home to the UNESCO-listed Hwaseong Fortress in neighbouring Suwon's orbit, plus coastal parks and salmon-themed attractions — reward visitors who want everyday Korea rather than tourist Korea. If your trip happens to coincide with a local food festival like this one, you get something no restaurant can offer: a community event where immigrants and locals share their home cooking side by side, and where visitors are welcome to join in. Keep an eye on municipal websites and community pages in Gyeonggi for street festival dates in autumn, when the region's calendar is at its liveliest.
The story was reported by Vietnam News Life.
