― 5 мая 2024 г.

31st International Festival of Spring Celebrations in North Macedonia

The 31st edition of the International Festival of Spring Celebrations of North Macedonia  started  with great enthusiasm this year. The central opening ceremony of the festival, which took place between  May 3rd-6th and featured various activities, was held in the Çalıklı village of Valandova.

The  ceremony was attended by the former President of the Republic of North Macedonia Gyorge Ivanov, the Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Skopje Fatih Ulusoy, the  Deputy Secretary General of TURKSOY Mr. Sayit Yusuf, the  President of the TDP and MP Dr. Beycan Ilyas, the  Coordinator of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency  in  Skopje Mr. Mehmet Bayrak, the Mayor of Valandova Pero Kostadinov, the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policies Enver Hüseyin, Deputy Minister of Culture Onur Ali and the President of MATUSITEB Tahsin Ibrahim along with many representatives of various institutions and organisations.

The central celebration ceremony started with the singing of the national anthems of North Macedonia and Türkiye and the representative performance of the Hıdrellez customs by the folklore ensemble "Bahar" from Çalıklı.

Dr Şenol Tahir, "The festival gained an international dimension"

Dr. Şenol Tahir, Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Festival, stated that Hıdırellez started to be organised as a local event 33 years ago, turned into a republic-wide festival in 2003 and gained an international dimension in 2017 with its inclusion in UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage  of Humanity. 

Sayit Yusuf, "We will organise these events together in every corner of the Balkans"

In his speech, TURKSOY Deputy Secretary General Sayit Yusuf promised that TURKSOY will support this festival from now on and said: "We will organise these events together in every corner of the Balkans as well as in every corner of the Turkic World. This is exactly the purpose of the establishment of TURKSOY. It is very much in line with the spirit of the programme we are performing here today. We are implementing many programmes in all Turkic States, among Turkic communities in order to tell each other about the cultural values produced by Turks for thousands of years, to introduce them to the world, to protect, develop and strengthen our cultural values under risk."

Ambassador Fatih Ulusoy, "Macedonian Turks make our relations even more special"

Conveying the greetings of the President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the beginning of his speech, H. E. Mr. Fatih Ulusoy, the Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Skopje said:  "One of the manifestations of the exceptional relations between our countries, which share the same geography and history and whose cultures are intertwined, is that we celebrate the arrival of spring together every year. Although they live far beyond the borders of Türkiye, Macedonian Turks, who are in our hearts, make our relations even more special."

The central ceremony of the festival went on throughout the day with exhibitions, folklore performances and a wrestling tournament. The 26th Symposium on Turkic Culture will be held on  May 6th,  2024 at the  May 25th Cultural Centre in Valandova with the participation of many scholars.