The Lim Festival has always been celebrated through many traditional games, such as swinging, human chess, wrestling, cock fighting and even a rice-cooking competition. But the quan ho folk song performances remain the most striking feature of the festival.
Quan ho singers from 26 villages sang songs about love and desire while atop the hills, indoors or floating along the village waterways.
Female singers wore colourful tu than (four-lapped dresses), while the men donned traditional costumes of their own.
Originating in Bac Ninh Province around the 13th century, quan ho is an antiphonal singing tradition in which men and women take turns singing in a call and response pattern.
The quan ho style of singing is currently being reviewed by UNESCO for consideration as a Humanitarian Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage.
