The sound of drums and rustic melodies echoed across the shores of the Three Gorges Reservoir in Wanzhou, Chongqing, as the village singing competition got underway on Sept 21. Seventeen teams from six western provinces and regions had gathered to celebrate the harvest with songs during the 2025 Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival.

The singing competition has become one of the signature cultural events of the annual farmers' harvest festival, encouraging villagers to compose and perform original works that capture both traditional heritage and contemporary rural vitality, according to China Rural Magazine, one of the organizers of the event.

This year's event was expanded to include a main competition for collective village songs and a subsidiary contest for individuals and smaller groups. The latter brought together mountain ballads, folk tunes, operatic arias and rap performances, showcasing the cultural diversity of China's countryside. The performances were judged based on the combined views from professionals, media and the public, with extra points awarded for strong grassroots participation.

The performances reflected the width of western China's cultural landscape. A chorus from Lhundrub county in Lhasa, Xizang autonomous region, staged Harvested Barley, recreating scenes of golden fields and full granaries on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

In Gansu, a rural opera troupe fused traditional Qinqiang Opera with humorous depictions of modern farm life in The Good Days of Farmers, drawing laughter and applause. The performance bagged the first prize in its category.

"More than 90 percent of our team members are farmers," said Qin Dengmei, head of the Gansu opera troupe in Chongxin county. "We use old voices to sing new songs about our villages, our better lives, and our hopes for the future," Qin said.

Zhao Hongbin, one of the judges, said the prize-winning songs come straight from the fields, "unpolished, but full of real strength". "They celebrate not only the harvest but also cultural roots and rural confidence," Zhao said.

The Village Song Competition was rolled out nationwide in August, with regional contests held both online and offline. The finals will take place later this year in Jianhe county, Guizhou province, home to vibrant ethnic traditions and grassroots cultural innovation.

Lei Liugong, head of the festival organizing committee, said the Village Song Competition, similar to the Village Super League of soccer and the Village Basketball Games, has become an activity where farmers are both performers and storytellers.

"By making good use of village songs, a popular art form among farmers, we can promote rural culture, cultivate rural customs, and boost farmers' morale, injecting new vitality into the rural civilization," Lei said.