On the evening of July 16, at Yen Sao Cultural Park (Pham Van Dong street, Nha Trang ward), the Khanh Hoa Yen Sao Culinary Festival 2026 officially opened. This is a festival marking 15 years of organization with unique cultural features of Khanh Hoa.
This year's festival brings a large-scale cultural and culinary space, honoring the value of Khanh Hoa bird's nests and the art of processing bird's nest dishes.
The highlight of the program is the "Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Cuisine Quintessence 2026" contest, which is expanded for the first time with the participation of 22 teams from 4-5 star hotels and resorts in the province.
Compared to previous years, mainly units directly under Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Company, this year's competition has more professional chefs from high-class accommodation and resort establishments.
The judging panel is experts, culinary doctors, artisans and top prestigious super chefs from Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Each participating team has 90 minutes to prepare 2 dishes (1 savory dish, 1 sweet dish) from 30 grams of pureed bird's nest from Khanh Hoa natural bird's nest island combined with many local specialties.
According to the organizers, the contest encourages chefs to create new dishes from bird's nest, thereby introducing the nutritional value of Khanh Hoa natural bird's nest and promoting the culinary culture of the "agarwood forest and bird's nest sea" land to tourists.
According to Ms. Trinh Thi Hong Van, Chairwoman of the Member Council of Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Company, the festival is not only a cultural and culinary event but also an opportunity to honor historical and cultural values and the salanganes nest exploitation profession that has been preserved and promoted by many generations.
According to Ms. Van, from bird's nests exploited on Khanh Hoa natural bird's nest islands, with the creativity of chefs and artisans, bird's nests have become dishes imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity, contributing to telling stories about the people and land of Khanh Hoa.
Khanh Hoa Bird's Nest Cuisine Festival was first organized within the framework of Nha Trang Sea Festival in 2011. Now it has become an annual cultural activity.
In particular, in 2025, "Khánh Hòa Salanganes Nest Exploitation and Processing Knowledge" and "Khánh Hòa Salanganes Nest Festival" were listed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List, affirming the historical, cultural and traditional craft values of the locality.
