Delegates cut a ribbon to kick off the festival.
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Speaking at the festival, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong said he hopes the festival will contribute to strengthening the extensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
Meanwhile, President of New Komeito Party Yamaguchi Natsuo took the occasion to highlight that the relations between Vietnam and Japan are growing in various fields such as politics, economics and culture.
The first Vietnam Festival was held here in 2008 as part of activities to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations, but in a few short years it packed in over 150,000 visitors (at the 2011 event), establishing itself as a major event on the summer international festival circuit at Yoyogi.
The Vietnam Festival, held annually in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park, is an exciting and delicious slice of Southeast Asian life. Like the other summer international festivals held at the park, this event provides a wealth of exotic foods, drinks, and entertainment, but this one has quickly become a crowd favorite.
This festival is all about bustle. Visitors was quickly be impressed by its size and number of vendors selling, cooking, and entertaining. In 2016, the Vietnam Festival feature 110 booths of food, goods and handicrafts as well as cultural, musical and artistic performances imbued with Vietnamese characteristics.
Everywhere, people are milling about in T-shirts featuring the Vietnamese flag design, and wearing Non la , the Vietnamese name for the conical-shaped hat that the country is famous for. Performances are all over, and not limited to the main event stage.
