A festival showcasing traditional ca trù (ceremonial singing) artists will be held at Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature) on November 11 to 13 in honour of Cultural Heritage Day (November 23). 

Ca trù was officially recorgnised by UNESCO as a world intangible cultural heritage in need of preservation in 2009. It is one of the most uniquely Vietnamese genres of folk music in the Vietnamese treasury of traditional music.

About 30 artists from 10 ca trù clubs in Hanoi including the newly-established Phu Thi Club, will perform at the festival.

Of the clubs appearing at the venue, Phu Thi Club won top prize at the 2014 National Ca Tru Festival and the Thang Long and Chanh Thon will perform 11 times during the event - the highest number at the festival. 

This is the third time the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports has hosted a ca tru festival.

"The festival organisers want to encourage and honour ca trù artists who are preserving and developing this traditional art,” the department’s deputy head Truong Minh Tien said at the November 3 press conference.

“We also hope to discover more young talent at the festival where ca trù artisans share their performing experiences. This is one of the activities showing the commitment of the Vietnamese government to continue to submit ca trù for consideration as a UNESCO-recognised world intangible cultural heritage."

"Despite being recognised as a world non-intangible cultural heritage, there are still many difficulties in drawing audiences to ca trù and in preserving and developing ca trù," said Tien.

Ca tru artists aged 6 to 30 will perform for 20 minutes each, demonstrating their talent to a jury including Professor To Ngoc Thanh, musician Dang Hoanh Loan, music researcher Bui Trong Hien, and Meritorious Artist Pham Van Khue.

The artists will be divided into two age groups: 6-15  and 16-30 years old. The jury will award two first prizes, A prizes, four B prizes, and eight certificates at the end of the festival.

Ca tru appeared in the 11th century but it was not officially recorgnised as a form of entertainment for the royal court until the 13th century during the Ly Dynasty. 

VNS