Vietnam on Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the war with the United States and the formation of the modern nation through the merger of North and South Vietnam. Thousands had flocked to Ho Chi Minh City — once known as Saigon — to witness the military parade near the Independence Palace,

Vietnam is celebrating the end of the Vietnam War on Wednesday with a grand military parade and an air show 50 years after the fall of Saigon, the event that marked the definitive conclusion of the decades-long conflict.

Fifty years since reunification, the fall of Saigon is a distant memory and microbreweries, cool cafes and Michelin-lauded restaurants are adding another dimension to the city’s eclectic food scene.