What are your thoughts on the Lao Food Festival?

The annual Lao Food Festival took place at Chao Anouvong Park in Vientiane last week and featured more than 100 stalls selling food items from Vientiane and most of the provinces. Vientiane Times visited the event to ask stallholders for their thoughts on the importance of this popular festival.

Ms Nitthaya Sinsalady, a stallholder from Vientiane: I am very happy to be taking part in this event because it is a very good opportunity to display and sell my food products. I have many kinds of traditional food and of course there are a great many types of food from Vientiane and the provinces here. I think it’s a great idea to hold this festival each year. It takes place just once a year and everyone looks forward to taking part because vendors get the chance to sample and buy each other’s wares. We can also discuss our experiences, recipes and production processes. Of course, it is very important to create a sustained interest in Lao food. Vientiane and all of the provinces have their own traditional snacks and drinks, which all are very tasty. I think we should definitely regularly promote our traditional dishes so that they continue to appeal to members of the public.

Eager shoppers buy sausages at the Lao Food Festival.

Ms Kongsy Inthaphon, a stallholder from Luang Namtha province: I am very enthusiastic about this event and this is the second time I’ve been here. I am very pleased to represent food producers in my province by exhibiting our traditional dishes. I’m selling khaoxoy noodles, thuanao (dried fermented beans), khaotom, taidam, nampou and other food items. The prices are reasonable and many people have bought our snacks. I think the food festival is a great idea because it’s something special and shines a spotlight on food that’s popular all around the country. It can also help to boost incomes because the things I’m selling are made by villagers in Luang Namtha. I support them because I want to provide them with work and an income.

Ms Sounatha Xaiyaphet, a stallholder from Bokeo province: I am very happy to display and sell the many kinds of dishes that are unique to Bokeo, which have attracted a lot of attention. Our products are of good quality, clean, tasty and are sold at reasonable prices. Some of them have met the standards set by the Food and Drug Administration. I sell the food I make in Bokeo province, Vientiane and China. I support the Lao Food Festival because it’s an excellent opportunity for people to buy and sell Lao food products. I think it helps to boost the food industry as well as the use of Lao currency. People coming to the festival can learn more about the different types of food made in each province. I think it’s important to popularise Lao food among Lao people, and also among foreigners. Each province has its own special dishes and Lao people are very good at making a wide variety of food, drinks and snacks, both in traditional and modern styles. And more factories are producing Lao food and drink for export.

Ms Daovieng Sengvongkham, a vendor from Luang Prabang province: This is the fifth time I’ve attended this festival and I’m very happy to be here yet again. I’m selling my province’s traditional snacks and am doing a brisk trade. I think this event does a lot to raise the profile of the different kinds of food in each province and informs people about the many types of food produced around the country, as well as our cultural traditions. I have visited some of the other food stalls here and bought some of the things on sale because I wanted to know what they tasted like.

Ms Ammy Khamneuk, a vendor from Xayaboury province: I am very happy to represent my province by displaying our products here. We have many kinds of food and fruit and Xayaboury is well known for tamarind, which has been selling very well. Many people have visited my stall and bought the things we’re selling. The Lao Food Festival is an important event and I hope it continues. I invite everyone to come again next year and taste and buy the amazing food that is made by talented cooks around the country.

By Visith Teppalath
(Latest UpdateJanuary 21, 2022)