Thousands of local people and visitors have flocked to Tien Du district in the northern province of Bac Ninh to attend the Lim festival, which honours Quan Ho (love duet singing) – the world intangible cultural heritage recognised by UNESCO.
Quan Ho is performed on boats - Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
BacNinh (VNA) – Thousands of local peopleand visitors have flocked to Tien Du district in the northern province ofBac Ninh to attend the Lim festival, which honours Quan Ho (love duet singing) –the world intangible cultural heritage recognised by UNESCO.
The annual festival takes place on February 27-28 or the 12thand 13th days of the Lunar New Year.
The incense-offering rituals were organised at HongAn pagoda (Lim pagoda) on Lim Hill. The pagoda isdedicated to Nguyen Dinh Dien (Hieu Trung Hau), whoinvented Quan Ho.
The Lim festival contributes to preserving the locality’s traditional culturalvalues and promoting images and tourism potential of Bac Ninh.
The organising board has arranged six areas and one stage forQuan Ho singing. Quan Ho is also performed on boats, and at pagodas andcommunal houses in Noi Due and Lien Bao communes, and Lim town.
Besides Quan Ho singing, the festival also featuresvarious folk games such as traditional wrestling, earthenware pot breaking, andbamboo swinging.
The art of love duets was inscribed in UNESCO’srepresentative list of intangible cultural heritage in September 2009.
Quan Ho is an art form that combinesvarious elements, including music, lyrics and costumes, and features thedistinctive culture of people in the region formerly called Kinh Bac.
The singing represents different kinds ofrelationships -- the relationship between male and female singers as romanticlovers, the relationship between two friendly villages and the relationshipbetween performers and the audience. Each element helps define Quan Ho,give it life and meaning, and the resulting harmony is so much more than just abeautiful song.-VNA
The Lim festival in the northern province of Bac Ninh, dedicated to traditional love duet singing, is expected to lure up to 10,000 visitors on the 13th day of the first lunar month or February 26 this year.
Almost 200 artists, both amateurs and professional, are competing at the 22nd “Quan ho” (love duets) folk singing contest in the northern province of Bac Ninh.
The northern province of Bac Ninh is showing great efforts in conserving its intangible cultural heritage, looking towards the development of cultural tourism.
The northern province of Bac Ninh is home to many cultural heritage, particularly UNESCO-recognised love duet singing (Quan ho) and ceremonial singing (Ca tru), along with Dau and But Thap pagodas that have recently won special national heritage recognition.
The northern province of Bac Ninh is taking steps to restore two “Nha chua Quan ho” (houses where Quan ho singers gathered for training and performances) in Bac Ninh City and Tien Du district which are home to original “Quan ho” villages .
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The event formed part of Vietnam’s ongoing campaign to seek UNESCO World Heritage status for the complex at the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, scheduled to take place in Paris in July.
Creative cultural festivals are fast emerging as a new catalyst for tourism development in Vietnam, as localities increasingly invest in these vibrant events on a more systematic and larger scale.
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Quan Ho is performed on boats - Illustrative image (Source: VNA) 
