Chợ Đêm MTL Festival: Vietnamese night market

Chợ Đêm means night market in Vietnamese and that’s the name of a festival underway in Griffintown.

With Vietnamese chefs coming together, and serving a variety of traditional dishes, themed drinks, and desserts to satisfy your taste buds, Montrealers can now get a taste of Vietnam without leaving the city.

“We’re here to celebrate the Vietnamese culture,” said Charles Nguyen, the Community and Public Relations Director for the festival.

The festival, aiming to highlight the Vietnamese culture, is happening at the Peel Basin until July 21.

“The Vietnamese culinary scene over there, like in Vietnam, is also evolving, like super fast. And so we kind of want to honor that part of us, like in Vietnam, but bring it to Montreal,” said Trang Tran, Co-director of Chợ Đêm MTL.

Over 40 restaurants and vendors will take part in this year’s edition, and attendees can also expect to meet local merchants and artists.

Minh Duonog is one of the chef’s working at the An Choi Plaza food truck at the festival. He says he has a passion for cooking.

“I enjoy cooking because, first of all, I love eating, and second of all, I really want to make people happy with my food,” he said.

The festival will also feature cultural performances, encounters, discussions and demonstrations.

Vietnamese artists, singers, dancers, illusionists, musicians and martial arts practitioners will also be in the spotlight.

“It’s about cultural identity and being able to be the newer generation and carrying a story to all of us,” said Michelle Vo, Co-Owner of An Choi Plaza.

Last year’s edition drew more than 15,000 people.

“This is a great event for many generations to come together, commune around food, but also bring in the Montrealer and the Quebecer crowd to be able to enjoy all of this together,” said Nguyen.

For more, visit chodem-mtl.com.