Two contestants from Vietnam and Thailand have taken home the highest prizes at the three-day Alma Hanoi international guitar festival and competition.

Guitarist Nguyen Tran Phuong from Vietnam won a US$2,500 Alma guitar as the first prize in the Group A category for contestants under 17.

In Group B for contestants of all ages, Thai guitarist Ravisut Patipatvasin claimed the top prize of a $5,500 Alma guitar.

Both winners were praised by the audience for their excellent performances in the finale on Sunday.

“I was touched by seeing contestants of 7, 8 years of age with a very strong passion for classic guitar music,” Vietnamese guitarst Vu Hien, head of the contest’s organizing board, said about the competition.

“I hope from now on, this event will become annual to help revive classic guitar music in Hanoi,” he added.

According to Hien, the event was the biggest-ever guitar fest in Hanoi and saw the participation of talents from Vietnam and other countries.

The jury included guitarists such as Spain’s Enrique Muñoz Teruel, South Korean Heehong Kim, Thai Natavut Natakarn and Russian Ekaterina Pushkarenko, in addition to Vietnamese guitarists Vu Hien, Le Thu, and Chau Dang Khoa.

Alongside the competitive element of the festival, performances and exchanges by the artists were also featured.

“After years of a booming, classic guitar culture in Hanoi, it has slowly faded as other genres of music have become popular,” Hien said at a conference to open the festival in Hanoi last week.

“We hold this festival in the hope of waking up the genre which was once so developed, and to create a playground for people who have always been in love with classic guitar music, as well as newbies.”