Chau Van singing festival opens in Vinh Phuc province

More than 200 artists from 10 amateur art troupes are taking part in the 2013 Chau Van Singing Festival for the Red River Delta, which opened in Vinh Yen city, Vinh Phuc province on March 24.
Singers at the festival come from Hanoi, Hai Phong, Vinh Phuc, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh and Hai Duong provinces.
The festival is part of the Vinh Phuc 2013 Tourism-Culture Week in response to National Tourism Year in the Red River Delta. This is also an important activity to preserve, honour and promote the spiritual folk art’s value in Vietnam ’s cultural heritage, contributing to making the art an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
It creates an opportunity for art troupes, experts and administrators to exchange experiences to foster the development of Chau Van singing. The festival will conclude on March 25.
Chau Van was created during the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400). Northern Nam Dinh province is considered its birthplace.
The highly rhythmic form of singing often accompanies “hau dong” (mediumship) during rituals to honour Mother Goddesses and connect to other gods. It is performed at temples and pagodas.
The music and poetry performed in the folk art are blended with a variety of rhythms, pauses, tempos, stresses and pitches. The genre has also adopted folk songs from the uplands and highlands of the North, Centre and South. The main musical instrument used in the genre is the Dan Nguyet (moon-shaped lute).