Lion Restaurant (11 Lam Son Square, District 1, tel: 3823 8514)

On Friday and Saturday the German beer festival, Oktoberfest, will be awash with a variety of German draft beers and 1,000 liters of a special beer made exclusively for the festival from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Try traditional German dishes and dance to the live music, see a fire dance and bartender performance and enjoy exciting games.

Oktoberfest is organized annually in October by Lion Restaurant. This year it coincides with the 200th anniversary of the festival in Germany.

Participants will receive attractive gifts, including a chance to win two vouchers for free beer-drinking at the restaurant for one year. Tickets are VND549,000.

Van Thanh Tourist Area (48/10 Dien Bien Phu Street, Binh Thanh District, tel: 3512 3025)

A buffet program named “Thang Long specialties” will be held on the nights of October 9-10 featuring more than 50 old and new specialties of Hanoi such as Hanoi fish paste, am fish porridge, day grilled chopped meat and edible snail cooked with green banana. Enjoy folk songs of the North while you eat. Tickets are VND190,000 per adult and VND120,000 per child.

Van Thanh Tourist Area has organized many big events including “Saigon ngay toi 30” on Reunification Day in 2005 feeding over 5,000 people, “Taste of the World” festival in 2007 and 2008, “Thang Long gastronomy in the South” festival in 2009 and “Ngay hoi que toi” festival from 2005 to 2009.

Dam Sen Cultural Park (3 Hoa Binh Street, District 11, tel: 3865 0921)

Take part in the “Phutho Tourist’s gastronomy towards the Grand Anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi” will be held from October 8 to 10 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring more than 100 unique cuisines from Hanoi and around the country made by Dam Sen’s talented cooks.