Traditional theater in Gia Lai is turning to history not simply to recount heroic figures and events, but to connect a younger generation with the past through the distinctive language of hát bội and bài chòi opera.
Gia Lai province has introduced a sweeping support package for traditional performing arts, aiming to revive hát bội and bài chòi through direct funding for artists, amateur troupes and young trainees.
Traditional bài chòi performances energized spring festivals across Tuy Phước commune and Quy Nhơn city during the Lunar New Year, drawing crowds of residents and tourists to the region’s rustic bamboo huts, poetry-infused melodies and rhythmic bamboo clappers.
The 2025 national Tuồng (Vietnamese classical drama) and folk opera festival concluded in Hanoi with strong performances from the province’s traditional art troupes, reaffirming the province’s reputation as the cradle of bài chòi and hát bội.
