Then and there: A festival to honour then singing and dan tinh (gourd lute) of northern mountainous ethnic groups will be held in the northern province of Lang Son. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Duc

HA NOI (VNS)– A national festival of hat then and dan tinh (traditional folk singing and gourd lute) of northern mountainous ethnic groups will be held on November 2-6 in the northern province of Lang Son.

Then singing, which is accompanied by dan tinh, plays an important role in the spiritual life of the groups, such as Tay, Nung and Thai, said Hoang Van Pao, director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Up to 500 artists and people from nine northern provinces and cities will participate in the event and introduce different then tunes representing different regions.

Then singing and dancing performances will take place at the provincial Centre for Culture and Information, 2 Tam Thanh Street, Lang Son city. The opening ceremony will be broadcast live on VTV2 channel on November 4.

Director of the culture ministry's Ethnic Culture Department Hoang Duc Hau said three major activities would be held during the festival: an exhibition featuring then cultural heritage held at Lang Son Provincial Museum from November 3 , a seminar on then development and preservation on November 4 at the provincial Convention Centre, and performances of then singing and dan tinh playing.

"Then is diverse in terms of content and form," Hau said. "Then musical includes then singing, then dancing and its music."

"Then singing has close links to the spiritual life of ethnic minority people. At the beginning of a year, a then ritual is often organised to pray for safety, a bumper crop and longevity.

"Then performing art has great potential that should be preserved," Hau said.

"The festival is an occasion to prepare a dossier to submit to UNESCO to recognise then singing as an intangible cultural heritage," he said,

"However, this is not our main purpose because whether then singing is recognised or not, it still exists. We organised the event to honour and preserve it.

"Nowadays, then is not performed in only ethnic languages but also in Vietnamese so it's an occasion for groups to exchange with each other." — VNS