Cao Van Lau Theater and Memorial

In Bạc Liêu, people say the name Cao Văn Lầu and hear strings in their memory at once. This is a place tied to a single sound.

Before the music, one point of geography matters. The sites connected with the musician Cao Văn Lầu and with đờn ca tài tử, the art of the south, stand in old Bạc Liêu, which now belongs to Cà Mau province. Đờn ca tài tử is an art of music and song of southern Vietnam that evokes life on the Mekong Delta's land and rivers.

There are really two sites. The Cao Văn Lầu Theater is in the Hùng Vương Street area, in Bạc Liêu ward, according to a 2026 document of the Cà Mau provincial government. The memorial area for the art of đờn ca tài tử and for the musician is on Ninh Binh Street, in what used to be Ward 2 of Bạc Liêu city. The two are related, but they are at different addresses.

The theater is a modern architectural symbol of the area. On its roof, three stylized conical hats have become the mark by which Bạc Liêu is recognized today. The shape of the hat recalls everyday life in southern Vietnam, and the performing artist. Seen from the outside, it is where the story of the region's cultural and artistic space begins.

To understand the musician more deeply, one goes to the memorial area. In 2013, the province approved an expansion and restoration of the site, over more than 12 hectares. Its parts include an exhibition house, the musician's grave, a house for performing đờn ca tài tử, a garden of instruments and a statue of the musician. In 2014, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ranked the memorial area as a national historic and cultural site.

The first thing that draws the eye inside the grounds is Đài Nguyệt Cầm. The stairway up to it has 32 steps. The steps stand for the growth of the piece Dạ cổ hoài lang, says a source from the journalists' association of the old Bạc Liêu province. It grew from a two-beat form up to vọng cổ, in 4 beats, then 8, 16, 32 and 64. Vọng cổ is a southern Vietnamese lament melody that is sung with many different lyrics.

On top of the platform are 21 potted ornamental plants. They stand for the 21 provinces and cities where đờn ca tài tử grew strong. The designers tell the history of the music in the language of architecture.

Beyond the platform stands the statue of the musician, holding a đàn kìm, a lute with a round, moon-shaped body and two strings. This is where the story of the man and his work opens. Local sources link the piece Dạ cổ hoài lang to his name, and regard it as one of the important foundations of vọng cổ and cải lương of the south. Cải lương is a form of modern folk opera from southern Vietnam.

The garden of instruments comes next. Twelve kinds of traditional Vietnamese instruments are carved there in blue stone. Vietnam's national tourism authority says that đờn ca tài tử uses these instruments: đàn kìm, đàn cò, đàn tranh, đàn tỳ bà, song lang, đàn bầu and sáo. Standing in the garden means seeing the whole ensemble of this heritage.

In 2013, UNESCO inscribed đờn ca tài tử on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. That list is for living traditions, passed on from one generation to the next. This is an art of music with both scholarly and folk roots. UNESCO describes it as tied to the spiritual life of the people of southern Vietnam, at festivals, at memorial days for the dead and on happy occasions.

What makes it special is that the players and singers do not only repeat the set pieces. They improvise, and they ornament the melody to express feeling. It is a living heritage, not an object in a glass case.

The same tourism authority says that đờn ca tài tử developed in the south from the end of the 19th century, with 20 foundational pieces and 72 pieces of old music.

Every year, at the full moon of the eighth lunar month, the Dạ cổ hoài lang festival is held at the memorial area. Under the moonlight, the sound of strings and of singing rises.

Old Bạc Liêu, now part of Cà Mau province, has more than the tale of the young master of Bạc Liêu, or its wind power. This land is also a gateway to understanding the music of the south. It runs from the piece Dạ cổ hoài lang to vọng cổ, cải lương and the đờn ca tài tử that the world has recognized.