Opening of the 2025 National Cheo Festival in Bac Ninh

The National Cheo Festival is a regular professional art activity organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), aiming to evaluate artistic creation, performance, preservation and promotion of the value of Cheo art in the current period. This is also an opportunity for art units to meet, exchange experiences, learn from each other, thereby improving professional quality and bringing Cheo art closer to the public.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the festival, Associate Professor Dr. Ta Quang Dong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that this festival is the first professional cultural and performing arts event to be held after the country implemented the 2-level local government model, marking a turning point in the organization, management and development of cultural and artistic activities in the new context. This further enhances the significance of the festival, demonstrating the determination to innovate, adapt and integrate of the culture, sports and tourism sector in the country's development process.

According to Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong, the policy of rearranging and reorganizing the system of public performing arts units is one of the major orientations of our Party and State in recent times. The goal is to build a more professional, streamlined, efficient and sustainable art sector. This is an inevitable step in the process of reforming and improving the quality of cultural and artistic activities in the country.

However, this process also poses many difficulties, concerns and thoughts, especially for traditional art forms such as Cheo. How to streamline without losing identity? How to make artists feel secure in their profession? How to make traditional art not only live in memory, but continue to be nurtured in the souls of today's young generation? These are big questions, requiring synchronous participation, enthusiasm and responsibility from all levels, sectors, from those working in management to each artist, researcher and the whole social community.

Opening of the 2025 National Cheo Festival in Bac Ninh -1 — The organizers presented flowers and thanked the festival's jury.

Expressing his belief that the 2025 National Cheo Festival will be a great success, contributing to further igniting the flame of passion for Cheo art in the hearts of the public and generations of artists today and tomorrow, Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong said that our Party and State have always been consistent in their viewpoint of preserving and promoting the value of traditional cultural heritage - including Cheo stage art - as both a responsibility and a sacred mission in the process of building an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity. The Party's Resolutions on cultural development, specifically Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW of the Politburo on the development of literature and art in the new period, have clearly affirmed this.

In particular, in the current period, the Politburo and the Government are assigning the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to preside over and advise on the development of a specialized Resolution on the revival and development of Vietnamese culture in the new period. This is a milestone of strategic significance, demonstrating the deep and consistent interest of the Party and State in the cause of cultural development - considering culture as the spiritual foundation of society, an important endogenous driving force for the country's sustainable development. The development of this specialized Resolution not only aims to reposition the role of culture in the overall national development, but also opens up specific mechanisms and policies to support, preserve and promote traditional cultural values, including the art of Cheo and other forms of national theatrical art, so that culture truly becomes a soft power, spreading in social life and the souls of Vietnamese people.

The 2025 National Cheo Festival takes place from October 20 to November 2 at the Bac Ninh Provincial Cultural and Exhibition Center, Nguyen Thi Dinh Street, Bac Giang Ward, Bac Ninh Province. The festival brings together 12 professional art units from many provinces and cities across the country, with 21 elaborately staged plays and the participation of nearly 1,000 professional artists and actors. Immediately after the opening ceremony, the Bac Ninh Provincial Cheo Theater opened the festival with the play "Thien Menh".

Source: https://cand.com.vn/van-hoa/khai-mac-lien-hoan-cheo-toan-quoc-nam-2025-tai-bac-ninh-i785259/