Preserving the art of Southern amateur music

Southern amateur music has a history of over 100 years and since 2013, it has been recognized by the world as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. To restore and preserve this art form, many provinces in the South are training the next generation to develop it widely in people's lives.

Nowadays, many localities have organized Don ca tai tu art clubs to maintain and preserve it in people's lives.

In order to carry out the work of preserving, conserving and promoting the values ​​of the art of Southern amateur music, the Steering Committee of the Project on preserving and promoting the values ​​of the intangible cultural heritage of Southern amateur music in Bac Lieu province (Steering Committee) has just organized the implementation of the Plan "On building and developing Vietnamese culture and people to meet the requirements of sustainable national development", in order to raise the spirit, responsibility and awareness of cadres, civil servants, public employees and people about the work of preserving and promoting the values ​​of the intangible cultural heritage of Southern amateur music; gradually improve the quality and develop the movement of Southern amateur music in localities in Bac Lieu province to serve tourists ...

Memorial area of ​​Southern amateur music art, musician Cao Van Lau

Accordingly, the Steering Committee will organize classes to instruct and teach 20 amateur music pieces to officials in charge of cultural and social work, high school, middle school and primary school teachers and members of amateur music clubs in localities.

Behind the Moonlight Pavilion

At the same time, introduce the art of amateur singing into music subjects, extracurricular educational activities (experiential activities and career guidance experiences) at primary schools, high schools, and secondary schools in Bac Lieu province and invest in equipment for amateur singing activities for clubs and cultural houses in localities...

Musical instrument garden

Previously, the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province invested in building an architectural work to preserve the material and spiritual values ​​of the art of Southern amateur music that attracts the most people and tourists in Bac Lieu, which is the Memorial Area of ​​Southern amateur music and musician Cao Van Lau.

This memorial site was recognized as a provincial historical-cultural relic by the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province in 1997 and ranked as a national historical-cultural relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2014.

Locals and tourists listen to an introduction about the late musician Cao Van Lau.

Visiting the memorial site, locals and tourists will hear about the late musician Cao Van Lau, the author of the famous Da Co Hoai Lang , the predecessor of today's vong co.

Wax statue of musician Cao Van Lau

To pay tribute to the late musician Cao Van Lau and preserve and promote the artistic value of Southern amateur music, and at the same time, affirm that Bac Lieu is one of the cradles of formation and development of Southern amateur music in particular and reformed opera in general, the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province has expanded the exhibition area, restored the musician's tomb, performance house, musical instrument garden, statue of musician Cao Van Lau...

The statue cluster recreates the scene of Southern Vietnamese people playing traditional music.

In particular, in the memorial area there is the "Dai Nguyet Cam" construction - a cultural symbol honoring the art of Southern amateur music, where the Da Co Hoai Lang Festival will be held on the full moon day of August every year.

According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Bac Lieu province, during the 5-day holiday of April 30 and May 1 (from April 30 to May 4), the number of visitors to tourist areas and spots in the province was about 125,400, with total revenue from tourism reaching about 78.5 billion VND.

Of which, Cao Van Lau Don Ca Tai Tu Art Memorial Area has about 2,000 - 3,000 visitors/day.

Southern amateur music performance for tourists in Tien Giang

Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Bac Lieu province, Thai Quoc Luu, said that the Department of Culture, Science and Information, the Cultural - Sports Centers of districts, towns and cities have had many solutions to maintain and improve the effectiveness of amateur music clubs, cultural and artistic groups at the grassroots level; develop plans and deploy rehearsals for cai luong plays and comprehensive art programs to prepare for performances at Cao Van Lau Theater every Saturday.

Artists exchange traditional music in Long An

In addition, in 2025, the functional sector of Bac Lieu province carried out the restoration of the Cao Van Lau Musician Memorial Site with many degraded items to preserve and promote the cultural heritage value of the province.

In the first quarter, Bac Lieu province welcomed 17,488 visitors to the relics and 2,390 visitors to visit and research at the museum's permanent exhibition hall and thematic exhibitions.

Long An province honors the art of Southern amateur music

NGOC PHUC

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/bao-ton-nghe-thuat-don-ca-tai-tu-nam-bo-post794940.html