More than 100 zitherists played traditional music while famous music teachers like Pham Thuy Hoan and Hai Phuong spoke about the instrument’s long history in Viet Nam.

The festival organisers, the HCM City Labour Cultural Palace and the Sound of the Homeland Club, hoped the performances will help young visitors understand why the zither or dan tranh, a traditional 16-stringed instrument, has remained popular for so long.

The opening ceremony saw Tra My of the Ha Noi National Music Institute and Hong Nga, Thu Ha, and Minh Phuong of the Hue Music Institute performing folk music eulogising love and peace.

Music teachers Hoan and Phuong, also two of HCM City’s leading zitherists - who played a role in the development of the instrument - also performed.

Artists from the central provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Khanh Hoa, and Quy Nhon played nha nhac (royal music).

The festival was held to mark the 35th anniversary of the city-based Sound of the Homeland Club.

“We should preserve, popularise, and develop our traditional culture and music, including the zither, among the young generation,” Hoan, who is also the club’s chief, said.

The zither is a traditional Asian stringed instrument and is known as dan tranh in Viet Nam, koto in Japan, kayagum and komungo in Korea, and guzheng in Singapore.

Kayagum and komungo are played with the fingertips while the others, including dan tranh, are played with plectrums.

To learn more about traditional Vietnamese music, visit the club at the Labour Cultural House, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 3.