Yulin Folk Music Season Opens in Chengdu China
The Yulin Folk Music Season 2025 officially commenced on Sep 29 at the Folk Music Lane Plaza in Wuhou district of Chengdu, Sichuan province, marking the return of this annual cultural celebration to one of Chengdu’s most vibrant and artistic hubs.
The opening ceremony seamlessly blended live performances, industry insights, highlight announcements, and interactive sessions, launching a three-month musical carnival.
A folk music market with over 60 stalls featuring intangible cultural heritage items, cultural and creative products, and local delicacies opened alongside, offering a vibrant street-life experience where people could stroll, listen, and sing along.
More than just a series of concerts, the Yulin Folk Music Season 2025 represents a profound restructuring of the city’s cultural ecosystem. Adhering to its core theme of “Living Like a Chengdu Local in Yulin,” the music season emphasizes systematic, industrial, and sustainable operations, aiming to establish Yulin Road as the spiritual home and cultural cradle of Chinese folk music.
During the upcoming National Day holiday, the themed performance “Singing Love to the Motherland” will use music as a medium to unite citizens in patriotic celebration.
In a recent article published by the International Institute for Asian Studies, it was noted that Chinese pop music across Greater China—spanning Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China—began embracing traditional influences in the early 2000s with the emergence of a new genre known as China Wind. Read the story here.
“China wind or Zhongguofeng 1 in Mandarin, is known mainly for its music, but is sometimes used as an umbrella term to denotate a Chinese style applied to anything from cheerleading to the design of book covers. Most well-known is the musical variant of China wind, which has its origins in the Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou (Zhou JieLun) who popularized this genre in the early 2000s. The songs released around this period were demarcated by their use of instruments, lyrics, singing techniques and, in the accompanying video clips, the usage of décor and costumes evoking a sense of Chineseness,” says Milan Ismangil.
Meanwhile, the music season will build a multi-dimensional activity matrix, ensuring a vibrant calendar with monthly themes, weekly shows, and a daily festive ambiance. Highlights include regular weekend performances, a folk songwriting contest, customized Yulin-themed singles by invited singer-songwriters, a themed week for the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, and a “folk music night” concert.
This newly upgraded music season breaks traditional boundaries, using folk music as a link to build an integrated ecosystem connecting art, industry, and society. It has established in-depth collaboration with the Chengdu Music Cultural and Creative Park, leveraging the park’s 700 music enterprises to provide musicians with full-chain support covering creation, performance, and copyright operations.
The music season also extends beyond music, integrating diverse scenarios of culture, tourism, commerce, and sports to create new urban consumption hot spots. In addition, it actively embraces digital technology to expand the expressive boundaries of folk music.
Whether you’re a music enthusiast, a culture lover, or a curious traveler, this year’s festival provides a perfect opportunity to explore and enjoy Chengdu’s dynamic cultural landscape.
Source: Chengdu Wuhou District
