― 29 сентября 2017 г.
"4th International Festival of Dede Korkut and the Music of the Great Steppe"
The "4th International Festival of Dede Korkut and the Music of the Great Steppe" was held in cooperation of TURKSOY with the Governorate of Kyzylorda in Kazakhstan.
The festival held within the framework of activities to promote the colourful, typicial folklore of Turkic peoples, foster their national folk music and strengthen cultural ties among them took place in Kyzylorda on September 27th-29th, 2017 with the contribution of more than 80 scholars folklore experts and artists from Azerbaijan, China, England, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Bashkortostan (RF), Sakha-Yakutia (RF), Tatarstan (RF), Tyva (RF) and Turkey.
The festival also featured an international conference on "The Heritage of Dede Korkut: Epic Culture, Folk Legends, Tales and Compositions”. The opening speech of the festival was delivered by the Governor of Kyzylorda Krymbek Kusherbayev who said that the festival is organized under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, with the support of the Governorate of Kyzylorda and TURKSOY and stressed that ties of friendship among Turkic republics are developed and strengthened thanks to initiatives of integration undertaken by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Nazarbayev.
TURKSOY Secretary General Prof. Dusen Kasseinov who also delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the festival held in the N. Bekejanov Musical Drama Theater of Kyzylorda stressed the fact that beyond being a mythological figure, Dede Korkut is a common cultural heritage and symbol of wisdom of the Turkic World. Prof. Kasseinov further added that Dede Korkut is also a folk poet whom we owe the kopuz which can be considered as the ancestor of all string instruments of the world.
The festival where folklore experts, scholars and musicians of the Turkic World organized various workshops and conferences also featured a concert in which artists of the Turkic World performed colourful songs and melodies of Turkic folk music. The concert featuring instruments such as the Uzbek "shyrnay"and "doyra", the Tatar "garmon", the Kyrgyz "komuz" and "kıl kıyak" and the Azerbaijani "tar" and "kemancha" was extremely appreciated by the audience.