Tai tu music troupes from 15 southern provinces ended competition in the Southern Tai Tu Festival in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta’s Hau Giang Province on November 30.

The public interest in the festival testified to the extensive local development of the art form, said the organisers, who hope that tai tu will be granted national cultural heritage status.

Each troupe was required to perform both singing and instrumental performance based on a repertoire of 20 essential songs and a myriad of vong co (nostalgic tunes).

Tai tu is an important part of Southern cultural life and is usually performed among family or friends.