HCM CITY — The HCM City Book Street will launch the first-ever Book and Night Cultural Festival on November 21-23.

The festival aims to provide a playground for those who are passionate about books, arts and Vietnamese culture, and to affirm the role of the Book Street as a multidimensional experience centre where knowledge, art and social life converge in a nightlife space.

The event will include talks between readers and authors about the books they love, spreading reading habits among local people and visitors.

The programme will feature a folk game and traditional craft space, offering sạp dance (Cheraw dance, a traditional dance with bamboo), leo cầu ùm (walking on bamboo canes), ô ăn quan (Vietnamese mancala), ném vòng (a strong throwing game) and obstacle races.

It will also introduce the art of coconut leaf folding, instructed by artisan Hà Tho.

The festival will present performances of tài tử music and extracts of cải lương plays performed by the Trần Hữu Trang Cải Lương (reformed opera) Theatre and Đó Đây tài tử music club at 7pm.

Tài Tử is a prototype of vọng cổ (traditional tunes) and cải lương of the southern region, where the musical forms originated 100 years ago.

It often centres around farmers who enjoy singing and playing musical instruments in the fields or while relaxing at the end of a hard day.  

Musicians play traditional instruments, including the đàn kìm (two-stringed guitar), đàn tranh (16-chord zither) and đàn nhị (two-chord fiddle), to accompany singers who convey different emotions to the audience.

Tài tử music was recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2023.

The Book and Night Cultural Festival will open from 6pm-10pm at Nguyễn Văn Bình Street in Sài Gòn Ward. — VNS