The first ever national Don ca tai tu (Southern Amateur Music) festival will be held in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu from April 20 to 25, the provincial People's Committee has announced at a press conference in HCM City this week.The six-day national festival themed Don Ca Tai Tu, Tinh Nguoi – Tinh Dat Phuong Nam (Southern Amateur Music – the Love of the Southern People and Region) will attract Don ca tai tu troupes from 21 cities and provinces in the southeast and southwest, and also Ninh Binh Province."The festival also welcomes the participation of any other provinces nationwide," said Le Thi Ai Nam, deputy chairwoman of the province and deputy head of the organisation board of the festival.According to Nam, Bac Lieu has been preparing for the event, and has sped up the construction of event venues.The event will feature an art performance of amateur southern singing and folk melodies, and a scientific seminar to provide a forum for dialogue on the importance of safeguarding and preserving Don ca tai tu.It will include a series of cultural activities, such as exhibitions of paintings, photos and traditional musical instruments and the inauguration of the memorial area for southern amateur traditional music with musician Cao Van Lau.There will also be an art performance to honour composers Yen Lang and Trong Nguyen and the final round of Miss Talent Don ca tai tu.A ceremony to grant the UNESCO certificate recognising Don ca tai tu as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity will be also organised.Earlier, the inter-governmental committee of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage recognised Don ca tai tu as an intangible cultural heritage of mankind at a meeting held in Baku, the Republic of Azerbaijan.Nam said the festival is also an opportunity to promote the image of the southern region to attract tourists, contributing to the region's socio-economic development."That's why 10 of 21 main activities are not directly connected to Don ca tai tu."They include a food festival, a trade and tourism fair, a seminar on tourism, trade and investment," Nam added.The event, aimed at honouring Don ca tai tu, will be held once every three years.VNS