Vietnam Television has launched the 2011 Folk Singing Festival to discover new original folk melodies peculiar to each region as well as prominent folk singing voices.

Participants in the festival will include artists aged between 18-30 (from both professional and amateur art troupes) who are capable of rendering different original folk tunes, and artisans aged 18-80. The People’s and Eminent Artists are ineligible for the contest.

Each province or city is permitted to submit two or three typical performances; each province in mountainous areas or primarily inhabited by ethnic minorities can send in up to five entries.

The final of the festival will take place in six regions: the northern delta and midland, the northern mountainous areas, the north central region, the Central Highlands, the south central region, and the southern region.