Folk Art Festival to Kick Off in Hechi

The 20th Bronze Drum and Folk Song Art Festival will kick off in Nandan county in the city of Hechi on Dec 2 and will last until Dec 4, according to an announcement made at the news conference on Nov 25.

Since 1999, the festival has been held in the 11 counties or districts of Hechi in turn. It has been one of the top three art festivals in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, along with the Nanning International Folk Song Arts Festival and the Guilin Landscape Tourism Festival.

Themed on "Charming Hechi, Beautiful Nandan", this year's festival will be composed of major activities. They include the opening ceremony gala, performances and exhibitions of intangible cultural heritages, a folk song contest and a painting, calligraphy and photography exhibition.

There are 47 ethnic groups in Hechi - including the Zhuang, Han, Yao, Miao, Mulao and Maonan peoples – providing the place with a rich and fascinating folk culture.

In recent years, Hechi has been protecting and carrying forward its ethnic culture.

To date, there have been six cultural exhibition centers, eight protection villages for bronze drum culture and 181 inheritors appointed of intangible cultural heritage at or above the city level.