"In the fields they are farmers, but on stage they are real artists. The performances in the contest have relatively good themes and are well-invested. Many performances light up the stage," judge Ngoc Diem, deputy head of the cultural and artistic department of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee's Propaganda Department, commented on the contest.

Farmers confidently sing on the green belt

Singing Contest on the Green Belt is a cultural and artistic exchange activity organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers' Association every two years, and is now in its 31st year.

This year, the contest has the theme of Ho Chi Minh City Farmers: Unity, Innovation, Civilization, and Development .

This is an opportunity for members and farmers to express their artistic creativity and singing passion after hard working days, through singing, folk songs, vọng cổ songs, and dances.

Talking about the unique characteristics of the farmers' art competition, Ms. Ngoc Diem humorously said:

"There are teams that are highly invested, but there are teams that "have hoes to play with hoes, have firewood to play with firewood". The farmer artists are confident when performing. I see in the dance team there is a girl who is retired but still in the army, still wearing a backpack, carrying a gun.

There is a united dance team, if one member forgets, just nudge him to remind him. It's true that reminding makes the dance more consistent." Everyone burst out laughing at this humorous comment.

Ms. Ngoc Diem hopes that in the next farmers' art competition she will see more Ao Ba Ba and Ao Dai.

The teams should focus on making emotional programs that touch people's hearts when introducing their people and localities, rather than spreading out like some of the entries this year.

Another judge, artist Le Tu, said he felt happy that the competition had many teams participating in performing traditional music.

However, he advised that in addition to having a good voice, farmer artists should sing on beat better because this is an important criterion in scoring.