More than 140 artists from 23 ca tru (ceremonial singing) clubs nationwide will perform in the National Ca Tru Festival in Ha Noi on October 13-16.
The artists will compete in four categories: hat cua dinh (singing at communal house in villages), hat cua quyen (singing at royal palaces), hat choi (singing in homes) and hat thi (head-to-head competition).

The festival's director, Dang Hoanh Loan, expressed hopes that the festival would help artists develop a deeper understanding of this cultural tradition.

Pham Minh Huong, deputy director of Viet Nam Institute of Musicology, said the festival aimed to encourage the artists to develop the artform into the future.

Many of the artists performing at the festival are candidates for the honour of People's Artist and Meritorious Artist from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, noted Nguyen Kim Dung from the Department of Cultural Heritage.

The performances will take place at the Viet Nam Institute of Musicology in the My Dinh area, 12km west of downtown Ha Noi. A seminar on preserving and promoting ca tru will be held next Thursday. The festival and seminar are part of the National Action Programme for protecting and developing the ca tru heritage, which was recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mankind in 2009.

VNS