Central Region Bai Choi Singing Festival 2025: Spreading heritage values ​​in the heart of the Central region

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has just issued a Plan to organize the Bai Choi Singing Festival in the Central region in 2025, a cultural event of important significance to preserve and promote the value of intangible cultural heritage. The art of Bai Choi has been recognized by UNESCO as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Illustrative photo. (Photo: PHU TAN)

According to the plan, the festival will take place from November 10 to 15, 2025 at An Hai Cultural House, No. 2 Vu Van Dung, An Hai Ward, Da Nang City, with the theme: "Fragrance and Colors of Central Vietnam 2025" .

The festival is organized to implement the Law on Cultural Heritage and the 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, affirming the role of the community as the heritage subject in preserving and promoting the art of Bai Choi singing. At the same time, the festival is also an opportunity to honor the artisans who are day and night preserving, teaching, and contributing to the continued development of Bai Choi in contemporary life.

Within the framework of the festival, the public will enjoy the unique traditional melodies of Bài Chòi such as: Xàng xê, Hô thai, Xuân nữ... The content praises the Party, Uncle Ho, the heroic fighting tradition of the nation, the beauty of the central homeland and the sacred feelings of people, from family love, love between couples to love for homeland and country. The lyrics and shouts both teach morality, criticize bad habits, and evoke folk tales, ancient tales, and history; all are expressed in a rustic, genuine tone and style, without mixing modern background music, preserving the inherent traditional values.

Along with the restoration of ancient melodies, the festival also encourages new creations from the community, based on adherence to the structure of traditional poetry, phonetics and performance styles, aiming to praise the Party, Uncle Ho, and love for the homeland. These creations will contribute to enriching artistic life, but not excessively altering the heritage.

The Festival's participants are People's Artisans, Meritorious Artisans, artisans, practitioners of the intangible cultural heritage of the Art of Bài Chòi, and Bài Chòi clubs belonging to the heritage subject community in 7 provinces and cities: Quang Tri, Hue City, Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai, Dak Lak .

Each province and city will send at least one team to participate. Each team consists of 10 to 20 people, including Mr. Hieu/Mrs. Hieu (singer), players, musicians... This large and diverse presence will create a rich cultural space, vividly recreating the art of Bài Chòi in the community.

Notably, the 2025 Central Region Bai Choi Singing Festival is not competitive, scoring or ranking. This is different from many other art events, aiming to avoid discrimination between individuals and communities. Instead, the Festival aims to create a space for exchange, learning, and sharing of experiences, so that each artist, each club, and each community has the opportunity to protect and promote the value of heritage together.

The organization of the Festival once again affirms the determination of the State and the community in implementing the 2003 UNESCO Convention, bringing intangible cultural heritage not only to sustainable protection but also to truly spread in social life, contributing to fostering national cultural identity and nurturing the souls of Vietnamese people.

Thanh Thao

Source: https://nhandan.vn/lien-hoan-ho-hat-bai-choi-khu-vuc-trung-bo-nam-2025-lan-toa-gia-tri-di-san-giua-long-mien-trung-post911954.html