Sulaimani Forum for Culture and Art (SFCA) in collaboration with Kashkul, the Center for Arts and Culture at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani launched the Sulaimani Festival which started on Friday at Hawari Shar Park.
The four-day festival showcases impressive performances by musical groups and performers coming from different cultural backgrounds.
Melodies from different parts of the Region came together with its diversity and culture through music.
“Music has no borders and brought us all together, I wish we could be united like this every day,” Zahir Karim Rash, an entrepreneur from Sulaimani, told Rudaw’s Nzar Jaza on Monday.
“The moment I listened to tonight's songs, I went back to the 1950s, 60s, and 70s,” Mahmood Galalyi, a singer, said of the feeling of nostalgia the festival had provoked.
Around 13,000 participants attended the festival.
“These festivals are important for us to get acquainted with the music of other nations and to present our own works as well,” Bokan Hawrami, a singer, said.
Kizhani Sulaimani Group, led by Anwar Qaradaghi, launched the festival with a performance and ended the first day with the National Group of Iraq Cultural Music led by Ala Majid.
On the second day, the Rastak Group continued the journey by performing in Kurdish, Persian, and other languages. It then concluded with a performance by the Heray Ladies Folklore Music Group as well as by two artists from Azerbaijan, Alim Qasimov and Farghana Qasimova.
Old Kurdish songs were played by the Sulaimani Music Band on the third day of the festival, with the end of festivities marked by the Syrian Takat Music Group.
The final day of the festival will start with Miraz Band, and awards will be given at the end. Alireza Ghorbani is set to perform a traditional Iranian set to conclude.
SFCA is a non-profit organization, aiming to promote arts and culture in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq by arranging events such as festivals, conferences, and seminars seeking to encourage peace and coexistence through cultural and artistic initiatives.
Kashkul is a research, preservation, and translation collective based at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani, founded in 2016.
