The 2025 National Cheo Festival opens in Bac Ninh

On the evening of October 20, the 2025 National Cheo Festival, chaired by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Department of Performing Arts, in coordination with the Vietnam Stage Artists Association, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Bac Ninh province and related units, opened at the Bac Ninh Provincial Culture - Exhibition Center.

The festival took place from October 20 to November 2, gathering 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.

The 2025 National Cheo Festival takes place in Bac Ninh . Photo: NTBD

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the festival, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong emphasized that the 2025 National Cheo Festival is a special art event to honor, preserve and promote the value of a unique national theatrical form - Cheo art.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong speaks. Photo: NTBD

This is a regular professional art activity organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, aiming to evaluate the artistic creation, performance, preservation and promotion of the value of Cheo art in the current period. The festival 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.

According to Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong, this festival is the first professional cultural and performing arts event 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.

National Cheo Festival Arts Council 2025. Photo: NTBD

Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong affirmed that the Party and State have always been consistent in their viewpoint of preserving and promoting the value of traditional cultural heritage - including the art of Cheo theater - as both a responsibility and a sacred mission in the process of building an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity.

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 not only aims to reposition the role of culture in 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 can truly become a soft power, spreading in the social life and souls of Vietnamese people.

Art units participating in the 2025 National Cheo Festival. Photo: NTBD

The 2025 National Cheo Festival will summarize and evaluate the quality of creation, staging and performance of Cheo art by art units nationwide. This is also an opportunity to honor collectives and individuals who have made many contributions to the work of preserving and promoting the value of Cheo art; at the same time, it is an opportunity for artists, actors, musicians, directors, painters, choreographers, etc. to demonstrate their talents, exchange and share creative experiences, and at the same time contribute to affirming the position of Cheo stage in the general picture of Vietnamese performing arts in the period of integration and development.

12 professional art units across the country competed with 21 outstanding plays, all elaborately staged, demonstrating the talent, passion and creative aspirations of the artists. The works have rich content, praising the homeland, country and people of Vietnam, arousing the aspiration to develop a prosperous and happy country.

In particular, Hanoi Cheo Theatre participated in the plays “The Face of Trang Quynh” and “The Heavy Burden of Mountains and Rivers”. In particular, there were 2 units that brought to the festival the play “Red Rain” from the novel of the same name by writer Chu Lai, which was a resounding success when adapted into cinema, namely Hai Phong Traditional Stage Theatre and Lac Hong Theatre of Phu Tho province.

Bac Ninh Cheo Theatre competes in the play "Thien Menh". Photo: NTBD

Immediately after the opening ceremony, Bac Ninh Cheo Theatre participated in the competition with the play “Thien Menh” written by Hoang Thanh Du, directed by People’s Artist Ta Quang Lam. The work depicts the image of Grand Tutor Tran Thu Do - a famous founding hero with strategic talent and foresight, while also expressing the Dong A spirit and national solidarity as the source of strength that helped the Vietnamese people defeat all invaders.

The next performances will be performed at the Ha Nam Provincial Cultural Center at 9:30 and 20:00 from October 21 to 31. The closing ceremony and award ceremony will be at 20:00 on November 2.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/lien-hoan-cheo-toan-quoc-2025-khai-man-tai-bac-ninh-720361.html