The Ha Noi ca tru singing festival 2012 will take place at the Temple of Literature on December 20 and 21.

This festival will be held by the Ha Noi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to preserve and promote the values of ca tru in the wake of its declining attractiveness in the audience.  The event will look to encourage the development of ca tru singing clubs in the city as a way to contribute to conserving this special singing genre, which was in October 2009 recognized by UNESCO as an intangible Cultural Heritage in need of urgent protection. Foreign and domestic lovers of ca tru singing will have a change to meet and exchange with ca tru singers on how to protect and promote this genre. In 1991, the Ha Noi ca tru singing club was established and drew the participation of several elder artists in the aim of popularizing ca tru singing to local people and foreign visitors. Thanks to initial practical activities of the club, the first seminar o¬n Ha Noi ca tru singing was held in 1999, and the first Ha Noi ca tru festival opened in 2000. Ca tru singing appeared in the north an entertainment activity around the 15th century and thrived until the early 20th century. Since then, it was fiercely competed by the import of modern recreational forms and other cultural activities. VietNamNet Bridge