The first Chau Van (ritual song) singing festival for the Red river delta will be held in March 2010 in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Songs at the festival will be about the Party, late President Ho Chi Minh, national heroes and Thang Long-Hanoi.
Singers to the festival will come from Red river delta provinces of Ha Nam, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Vinh Phuc, Hai Phong city and the capital city of Hanoi.
Those localities will be host of the annual festival in rotation in spring.
Chau Van singing is a spiritual form of music used to invoke spirits during ceremonies. It is highly rhythmic and trance-oriented.
The art of Chau Van singing originated in the Red river delta and dates back to the 16th century, later it has spreading to the whole country. It has also adopted the essential beauty of folk songs from the uplands and highlands of the North, Centre and South.
Chau Van singing combines chanting for a trance and dancing; a religious form of art used for extolling the merits of beneficent deities or deified national heroes. Its music and poetry are mingled with a variety of rhythms, pauses, tempos, stresses and pitches.