Grandiose festival at Heydar Aliyev Center invigorates everyone

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

The Heydar Aliyev Center, enjoying a stunning view and relaxing greenery, organized a unique and unforgettable holiday for all at the last week of summer! 

Families, children and young people, singletons, groups and active holidaymakers - everyone enjoyed the wide selection of activities, united in one grandiose festival.

The festive celebration began with a parade and an exhibition of classic cars organized by the Automobile Federation of Azerbaijan. The parade featured more than one hundred and fifty classic cars produced before 1980.  For the classic car lovers, it was a real museum on wheels.

Everyone had the opportunity not only to enjoy the beauty and elegance of classic cars, but also to sit behind the wheel of the legendary classic cars. Legends of the world car industry, including Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, Mustang, Chrysler, and Pobeda, Zaporozhets, Moskvitch, GAZ, ZIL, ZIMA, were lined up, submerging viewers of the rally into the atmosphere of their favorite films and retro hits.

Forty-nine-year-old Elgiz Yusifov for the first time participated in the parade with the GAZ M20 car "Victory" of 1947 release.

"Baku hosted parades of classic cars several times, perfectly organized by the Automobile Federation of Azerbaijan. And last year I decided to buy such a retro car. I restored it myself and for the first time took part in the parade. Since childhood, I dreamed of such a car. My grandfather, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, had such a "Pobeda". So I decided to buy this car to honor my grandfather, and at the same time it was a kind of victory in the realization of my childhood dream. Thanks to the organizers for such a great holiday,” he told Trend.

The oldest participant of the parade was "Opel Olympia" of 1936. Its owner Azad Karimov turned out to be a real collector of classic cars and took part in the parade with Volkswagen Beetle of the 1966 and the 1971 release. A few more classic cars remained in the garage.

“It is not the first time I take part in the parade of classic cars and this is a very significant event. A lot of people are in love with cars since the very first Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line in 1908. Each era has brought a lot of innovations, but there are a lot of "classic" autos, which despite being released many years ago, are still a dream of any collector. Today there are a lot of modern cars with an original design and a powerful engine, but a retro car still remains the real soul of the car enthusiast. We give them a second life, we show them to young people and leave this unfading beauty to future generations,” he said.

The parade was followed by entertainment programs for various age groups organized in the Park of the Heydar Aliyev Center. Especially fantastic was the International Kite Festival "Dance of the Wind", which was held in Baku for the first time.

The project was attended by 10 artists from Azerbaijan, Latvia, Mongolia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Denmark and Finland, who were awarded honorary diplomas from the organizers. Some 50 kites of different size and format drawn by the "masters of the brush" decorated the sky of Baku and gave an unforgettable impression to the audience, creating a multicolored palette.

Ilona Janulene from Lithuania drew colorful fish on the kite, which, in her opinion, is a symbol of the unification of the sea surface and the celestial sphere.

“The event is a real festival of peace and friendship between peoples, and for artists it gives an opportunity to show their skills in an unusual format. I came to Baku for the first time and admired the beauty of the city, hospitality and friendliness of your people, national culture and cuisine. Fantastic impressions!” said the artist.

Within the framework of the festival, children launched up to 200 kites into the sky.

The guests also enjoyed thrilling concert program by pop stars Roya and Mir Yusif.   Tens of thousands of people thronged the park around the Center to watch the concert.