If you are in Indian capital New Delhi this December don’t forget to keep aside an evening for some delightful street food from Delhi. Promoting, professionalizing and branding street foods in its own style, the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) is organizing a grand Street Food Festival at the sprawling Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex in Delhi from 20 to 22 December. The theme slogan of this culinary carnival would be ‘Swad hai, Romanch hai, Street Foods ki Baat hi kuchh aur hai’ (It’s tasty, its thrilling, Street food is a class of its own).
This winter delight set to attract thousands of foodies across India over three days will have master street food vendors of different regions of India and other countries with their signature dishes having age old stamps of culinary tradition and culture. Not just a unique battle of tastes, the carnival will be an advocacy event with a difference wherein the executives and functionaries of tourism, food processing, health, labour and employment departments and boards, and representatives of culinary institutes, development agencies, media and academic institutions would join together to share, acknowledge and celebrate the potentials and the possibilities of street food vending sector.
World today is witnessing a surge in street food preservation and professionalization and the street food advocates and entrepreneurs across countries are finding out ways to create new possibilities for regeneration of the street cuisine culture. The concept of traditional street food has acquired new dimensions in developed countries, with food streets/ food centres emerging as new tourist attractions. It is often claimed that the street food prepared with safe handling of ingredients and water contain more nutritional values in comparison to the foods served in hotels and restaurants.
The Street Food Festivals organized in Delhi in November 2011 and December 2012 evoked huge response of the citizenry and attracted a large number of crowds. A team of Singapore Tourism also joined the 2012 festival and invited vendors to participate in the World Street Food Congress. A team of eight lead street food vendors joined the World Street Food Congress in Singapore from 31 May to 9 June, 2013.