From Aug 17 to 19 the first Desert Music Festival will be held on the Ulan Buh Desert, the country's eighth-largest, in Dengkou county of Bayannuur, Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Co-initiated by famous tenor Dai Yuqiang, the festival will feature 188 award-winning young singers selected from a music education program launched by Dai. The program aims to train 1,000 music teachers for 100 Chinese counties. It also supports musicians from rural China.

Veteran musicians, headlined by Dai and joined by songwriter Fu Lin, soprano Chen Liru and Qi Bolag, a morin huur player from Inner Mongolia, formed the judging committee for the program. They will perform together during the outdoor festival.

The top six participants will be awarded 100,000 yuan ($14,800) each during the festival.