In addition to don ca tai tu (southern amateur music), the event features the performances of many national intangible cultural heritages and those accredited by UNESCO, such as Ca Tru (ceremonial singing); Space of Gong Culture of the Central Highlands; Bai Choi of the central region; Quan Ho (love duet); and art forms of Khmer and Hoa ethnic people. Its grand opening ceremony took place on November 27 evening, gathering more than 500 artists, actors and artisans from 25 localities nationwide.
The event was broadcast live and rounded off with a low-altitude fireworks. In his speech at the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam lauded Bac Lieu’s identification of five socio-economic pillars for development investment, helping it obtain double-digit growth in consecutive years and take the lead in the region.
The pillars are agriculture, with a focus on high-tech application and better rice and shrimp production; industry, particularly renewable energy; tourism; high-quality trade-service, education, and health; and marine economy in association with defence-security.
The official requested local authorities to pay attention to the sustainability factor in every stages of development. Dam recommended Bac Lieu promote initiatives and projects on regional linkage, initially cooperation with localities in the key southern economic zones and Mekong Delta to jointly invest in infrastructure serving regional growth.
He stressed that the province also needs to preserve and develop its traditional cultural value, strongly invest in education, health, and social welfare, protect the nature, and create a safe living environment. Secretary of the Bac Lieu Party Committee Lu Van Hung said the festival, among the activities marking the 25th anniversary of reestablishing the province, demonstrates its efforts for socio-economic development after a long period affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The province is the birthplace of don ca tai tu, recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2013. Considered one of the country’s main music genres, it originated from Hue court music and folk music of the southern region.
Coming into being in the 19th century, the genre thrived in the early 20th century and remains an important part of Vietnam’s traditional culture today. Bac Lieu is also where Cao Van Lau (1892-1976), known as the father of cai luong or southern traditional opera, wrote classic cai luong piece Da co hoai lang in 1919. It tells the story of a wife waiting for her husband to return home from battle./
