The programme on Sunday night will feature about 100 artists in nine groups from the northern and midland area and follows and elimination process involving professional and amateur entrants over the age of 18.

Judges will include To Ngoc Thanh, a prominent researcher of Vietnamese folk arts and culture, Hoang Trong Loan and Bui Trong Hien.

The biennial festival, organised by Viet Nam Television, will run until April 24 and feature similar events throughout the country where eliminations have been held.

The best songs and music from the festival will be recorded for research and six performances will be broadcast live on channel VTV3.

Thanh said the festival of traditional melodies would inspire composers to write modern songs and music. Many folk songs, music and dances were revived by the 2005 festival, he said, and after the 2007 event the bai bong dance and ho cua dinh (singing at communal house's gates) in Phu Xuyen District of Ha Noi was preserved by local people.

The bai bong dance was believed to started in the early 13th century under the Tran dynasty, Thanh said. Tran Quang Khai, a famous general during the dynasty, created the dance to celebrate the country's third victory over Mongol invaders. During the following seven centuries, the dance was mostly used as a musical dedication to royal families for special events, such as birthdays. It was also used as a sacred offering when praying for peace. Thanh, who has been a festival judge since the inaugural event in 2005, said singers from folk art troupes brought many original folk songs from their localities, accompanied by their instruments.

It was an ideal way to seek out, preserve and develop folk songs from all the different areas and a good chance for singers and artists to meet and exchange expertise on traditional music, Thanh said.