When attending the festival of Vietnamese folk songs – Lim festival, Quan Ho singers are dressed in their best clothes, men carry with them an umbrella of black silk, women a fan under a cartwheel palm-leaf hat tucked under their arms.
Each year, on the 13th of the 1st lunar month, on the Lim hills or in the Lim pagoda’s park, among the blossoming peony bushes, the pilgrims come from every corner of the country and distinguished and smart young men and young girls of the region gather for sight seeing, contemplating blossoming flowers, encountering and making acquaintance with each other and listening together to recitals of songs, or sing Quan Ho songs.
Coming Lim festival in groups of young men or women, Quan Ho singers are dressed in their best clothes, men carry with them an umbrella of black silk, women a fan under a cartwheel palm-leaf hat tucked under their arms. A female group may be the first to go up to a male group and offer betel quids, thus striking up an acquaintance. A dialogue begins in the form of songs. In any event, courliness is the rule. The men call themselves “Your younger bothers” and address the women as ” Our elder sisters”; conversely, the latter call themselves “Your younger sisiters” and address the former as” Our elder brothers”. Female duets keep up the conversation by exchanging songs with male duets.
For instance, if the female group sing:
“How dare we! You elder brothers are like the moon that shines in the sky, we your younger sisters, we are but tiny lamps lighting small cottages”.
The men will answer unpretentiously:
“Please be the first to sing, elder sisters, we’ll follow suit”.
Source : http://vietnamcharm.com/quan-ho-folk-songs-the-beauty-of-vietnamese-traditional-music-4748
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