The festival is held every three years by the Performing Arts Department in coordination with the Vietnam Theatre Artists Association.

This year’s festival sees the participation of nearly 1,500 cheo artists from 16 troupes around the country, including the Hanoi cheo theatre, the Ninh Binh cheo theatre, the Thai Binh cheo theatre, the Army cheo theatre and the host cheo troupe.

Following the opening ceremony, nearly 100 artists from the Ha Nam cheo troupe staged a performance entitled “Nhung vi sao khong tat” (Eternal Stars), directed by People’s Artist Trinh Thuy Mui and honouring the sacrifice of ten young female militia members in Lam Ha commune during the war against the US.

Cheo is believed to have originat😼ed in the 10th century and has its roots in vill🌳age festivals in the Red River Delta./.