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Scenes from Kurdistan's mountain snow festival

23-02-2016

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Rudaw

Winter lovers converged in the hundreds on a local Snow Festival Saturday on Kurdistan’s Kodo Mountain, meant to draw international attention to its natural beauty and tourism potential.

The one-day event, in the Haji Omran region near Kurdistan’s border with Iran, drew skiers, drivers showing off their skills in deep snow and others who came just for the festivities, which included traditional Kurdish music and dances.

Participants came from the region’s three provinces, Duhok, Sulaimani and Erbil, showing support at a time when Kurdistan is trying draw tourists, whose numbers have drastically dropped since the start of the war with the Islamic State (ISIS) in mid-2014.

The Center of Youth and Culture in the towns of Choman and Soran organized the event, which started at 10.30 am and lasted until 5 in the evening.

This was only the second winter festival to be held in the area. When the first was held in the 1950s, King Faisal the second was still ruler of Iraq.

Photos by Farzin Hassan