2015 Yangtze River Culture Festival to open in Zhangjiagang

The 2015 China (Zhangjiagang) Yangtze River Culture Festival will begin in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, on Nov 1.

A total of four activities are slated to take place during the festival, which is now in its 12th year. They are the fifth international humor art festival, the sixth Yangtze River folk art festival, a Yangtze River youth singing contest and the Yangtze River xiaoxi (story-telling with songs and dances) and xiaopin (Chinese skit) contest.

The humor art festival will showcase humor artists from other countries such as France and Germany putting on magic shows. The folk art festival will feature folk songs and dances around the city, including Tibet dances, songs of Jiangxi's She ethnic group and Yunnan's Yi ethnic group, and Anhui's Fengyang flower-drum.

The youth singing contest will be divided into pop, combined, folk music and bel canto categories. The xiaoxi and xiaopin contest will have 10 competitions based on different operas, including Lv opera from Shandong province, Huai opera (a local opera popular in Jiangsu, Anhui and Shanghai), and Shanghai opera.