Ho Chi Minh City River Festival continuously wins more international awards

Recently, the 22nd International Business Awards (IBA) officially took place in Lisbon, Portugal. Once again, the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2024 was honored with 2 international Gold Awards, adding to the list of numerous awards achieved during the year.

These are: Gold Award in the Arts, Entertainment & Community Festival category: Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2024; Gold Award in the Cultural Event category: Opening art program "Legendary Train".

This achievement marks the first time a festival of a city in Vietnam has won a double award in the world's creative arena, affirming Ho Chi Minh City's efforts in shaping a model of tourism - culture - economy that is linked to the region and the world.

The 3rd Ho Chi Minh City River Festival in 2025 will take place for more than a month, from November 29 to December 31. Photo: Le Vu

Prestigious awards in the business field worldwide

The International Business Awards (IBA) is one of the world's most prestigious awards under the American Stevie Awards system, dubbed the "Oscars of the business world" by the New York Post. In 2025, the IBA attracted more than 3,800 nominations from 78 countries and territories, with the participation of thousands of leading organizations, corporations, brands and agencies worldwide.

The double victory of Ho Chi Minh City not only affirms the creative capacity and professional organizational thinking of the city's tourism industry, but also contributes to raising the image of Ho Chi Minh City as a leading cultural and festival destination in the region.

This is also a source of pride for the Organizing Committee, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism as well as Newday Media, the unit that produced the opening art program "Legendary Train" - a testament to the creativity of the Vietnamese tourism industry on the international stage.

Journey to affirm the stature of the brand "Ho Chi Minh City River Festival"

Launched in 2023, the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival is a strategic initiative of the city's Department of Tourism, aiming to honor the cultural and historical values ​​of rivers and affirm the image of a modern, dynamic, and distinctive riverside city.

The festival not only brings unique tourism experiences, but also opens up a new approach to community tourism development, connecting people with the city's cultural and economic flow. Over many years, the festival's typical activities have been loved and awaited by the public, such as: boat parades on the river, reenactment of the Western floating market, water sports competitions, art performances, and waterway tourism stimulus programs... This year's activities are expected to be even more special. The festival seasons have recorded impressive results: In 2023, more than 210,000 visitors were welcomed, including 91,000 international visitors; in 2024, more than 4.5 million people participated, 1.3 million tourists, including 121,000 international visitors. In particular, this festival season brought in an estimated tourism revenue of 4,250 billion VND.

As a testament to these successes, the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival has been honored with a series of prestigious domestic and international awards, including:

Kotler Awards 2024: At the prestigious international award founded by Philip Kotler, the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival was honored in the Impactful Destination category. The award was voted by a panel of more than 50 leaders and prestigious experts in many fields, recognizing the festival's comprehensive impact and significance in promoting the destination's image.

International Business Awards 2024 (USA): The opening musical “The River Tells Stories” produced by Newday Media for the first festival season won the Gold Award in the Arts, Entertainment & Community – Cultural Events category, surpassing more than 3,600 nominations from 60 countries. This achievement marks the first time the “Ho Chi Minh City River Festival” brand has been known to the international community.

Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Award 2025: The festival was awarded First Prize in the field of Economic Development, thanks to its creativity in combining culture, tourism and economy, contributing to affirming the position of Ho Chi Minh City as a modern, unique river city.

International Business Awards 2025: The festival received a double Gold Award in the Arts, Entertainment & Public Festival category for the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2024 and the Cultural Event category for the opening program “The Legendary Train”. The IBA 2025 jury highly appreciated the strategic vision, scale of organization and cultural - economic - tourism influence of the program. One judge commented: “The Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2024 is a pioneering model in combining heritage, tourism and economic development. The inspiring storytelling has transformed the identity of the river city into a leading cultural - commercial convergence point in the region”. Another comment called “The Legendary Train” “an iconic cultural achievement, turning the Saigon River into a vibrant stage honoring Vietnamese heritage and global creativity”.

The success of the opening programs also brought pride to the program's General Director, Ms. Le Hai Yen, who shared: "We are proud to have brought home prestigious awards with the City, demonstrating the influence of the River Festival not only domestically but also internationally. This success is a strong motivation for the program team to constantly innovate and bring more and more impressive programs, contributing to affirming the position of Ho Chi Minh City as a modern, dynamic and unique river city."

Looking to the future – Expanding regional influence

Success in the international arena is a stepping stone for Ho Chi Minh City to continue developing the River Festival as a unique cultural and tourism product, constantly innovating so that each festival season is both an annual event and a media and economic boost for the city.

According to the Organizing Committee, the 3rd season of the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival in 2025 with the theme "Cross-space Bridge", is expected to take place from November 29 to December 31, 2025, expanding in scale to many locations in the city: Nha Rong Khanh Hoi Area - Saigon Port, Bach Dang Park, Saigon Riverside Park, Viet Star Wharf (Tan Hung Ward), Crescent Lake Area - Phu My Hung Urban Area (Tan My Ward), other tourist areas and destinations in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Ba Ria Vung Tau...

To meet the public's expectations, the Ho Chi Minh City River Festival 2025 will have many special activities: Performance of model boats with light and artistic heritage on the river; Parade of tourist boats on the river; Space on the wharf and under the boat recreating the floating market activities on the river; Binh Duong Culture - Cuisine - Tourism Week, Carnival - Street parade in Ba Ria - Vung Tau...

The event will combine activities to stimulate waterway tourism, shopping promotions, art performance incentives and regional connections, promising to bring a colorful festival space imbued with river identity.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Chuyen-dong-van-hoa/le-hoi-song-nuoc-tp-ho-chi-minh-lien-tiep-dat-them-cac-giai-thuong-quoc-te-i784535/