2nd Festival of southern amateur singing

Outstanding artists from Long An province performed 5 pieces featuring the theme “Southern Gem” at the festival. Artists of Hau Giang province impressed the audience with a performance on a boat. Under the theme “Preserving the home village’s soul”, Bac Lieu artists performed 6 pieces featuring new versions of folk tunes on traditional musical instruments. Vuu Long Vy is Director of the Bac Lieu Culture Center: “In this festival we want to work together to preserve and promote southern amateur singing and strengthen friendship between Mekong Delta provinces. Most of our singers are young people and kids. The musicians are older.”

50 artists from Can Tho are determined to impress the audience at this festival. Nhat Danh is Deputy Director of the Can Tho Culture Center: “Can Tho artists are very enthusiastic about the festival and want to impress the audience. We hope to receive investment to promote the folk genre.”

Amateur singing, a genre of folk music of the southern region, has been evolving here since the 1800s. It thrived in the early 1900s and remains crucial to Vietnam’s traditional culture. It has been recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.