On April 18\u201319, 2026, the \"Saigon Pizza Festival 2026\" was held at The Global City SOHO area in District 2 (Thu Duc City) of Ho Chi Minh City. It was organized by \"Saigon Outcast,\" a Ho Chi Minh City food-and-culture community. Over two days, more than 2,500 people attended, showcasing the diversity of Saigon's pizza scene all in one place \u2014 from wood-fired Neapolitan to Indian-style curry pizza to Bolognese-stuffed pizza pie.<\/p>\n
The venue, The Global City SOHO, is an emerging commercial area in the Binh Trung district along Do Xuan Hop Street. About 30 food booths took part, broadly organized into three zones.<\/p>\n
From the authentic Neapolitan style with wood-fired ovens brought in, to New York slices, thick Sicilian, and creative offerings. Drawing particular attention were the \"curry pizza\" based on Indian-style curry sauce and the \"pizza pie\" packed with beef Bolognese. Fusion offerings incorporating Vietnamese ingredients also took part, and a line formed for the pizza with banh mi\u2013style toppings.<\/p>\n
The craft beer booths featured emerging breweries including C2, offering a wide range of styles such as IPA, weizen, and sour ale. The area named \"Dessert Alley\" had Italian sweets like modern artisan gelato, cannoli, and tiramisu.<\/p>\n
A DJ lineup and live music curated by FTWR livened up the venue, and the \"pizza toss challenge\" of spinning and tossing pizza dough was also popular with families.<\/p>\n
The festival's headline feature was the People’s Choice Awards. Attendees voted for their favorite pizza from the \"Noshbox\" food platform app, and the results were announced on the evening of the final day. Votes were tallied in real time, with the rankings displayed on the venue's screens. One attendee laughed, \"It's fun being able to vote for the pizza I ate. I wanted to eat them all and ended up eating five.\"<\/p>\n
| Item<\/th>\n | Details<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|
| Dates<\/td>\n | April 18 (Sat)\u201319 (Sun), 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Venue<\/td>\n | The Global City SOHO, \u0110\u1ed7 Xu\u00e2n H\u1ee3p Street, Binh Trung District, Thu Duc City<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Organizer<\/td>\n | Saigon Outcast<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Attendance<\/td>\n | Over 2,500 (two-day total)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Number of exhibitors<\/td>\n | About 30 booths (pizza + drinks + dessert)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Pizza price range<\/td>\n | 60,000\u2013180,000 VND (about 360\u20131,080 yen)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Craft beer<\/td>\n | 50,000\u201390,000 VND (about 300\u2013540 yen)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Tickets<\/td>\n | Sold online via Megatix + tickets available at the door<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\nLocal reactions \u2014 voices from attendees and the food industry<\/h2>\nA Ho Chi Minh City\u2013based food blogger (woman in her 20s) said, \"The level of the booths went up from last year. The Neapolitan-style ones in particular had booths where actual Italian pizzaioli were baking, and the margherita coming out of the 400\u00b0C wood-fired oven was moving.\"<\/p>\n An Italian chef exhibiting said, \"Saigon's pizza market has grown rapidly in these three years. That creative pizzas using local ingredients \u2014 cilantro, lemongrass, fish sauce \u2014 are being accepted is proof of this city's flexibility toward food.\"<\/p>\n A Vietnamese man (in his 30s) who came with his family commented, \"My kid was absorbed in the pizza toss, and I could relax with a craft beer. Food fests are mostly street-stall types, but one focused on pizza felt fresh.\"<\/p>\n Points for Japanese travelers to enjoy it<\/h2>\nThe festival has ended, but many of the pizza shops that took part have brick-and-mortar locations in Ho Chi Minh City. Here we lay out the points worth noting for your next visit.<\/p>\n
|