The Heydar Aliyev Centre has hosted an award ceremony for the winners of the Children's Creativity Festival.

The event was co-organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Science and Education, and the Heydar Aliyev Centre with the general sponsorship of BP Azerbaijan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, Azernews reports.

The guests were first presented with a festive program, art pieces by project participants, and an exhibition of works by masters of folk and applied arts.

Many public and cultural figures attended the award ceremony of the festival.

Addressing the event, First Deputy Director of the Heydar Aliyev Centre, Fargan Novruzov emphasised that the festival has become a significant event in the cultural and educational spheres of the country.

The festival united up to 27,000 young talents all across the country, including from the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

"Special care and attention to the younger generation, their spiritual and personal development, and education in the spirit of patriotism and high moral values are one of the main priorities of the Heydar Aliyev Centre. This festival is one of the most important projects carried out in our republic. Its participants are our young friends and children. At the same time, the Heydar Aliyev Centre is visited daily by schoolchildren, who are given extensive information in the direction of studying the legacy of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev and Azerbaijani history and culture," Fargan Novruzov said.

The head of the staff of the Ministry of Culture, Khanlar Aghalarov, stressed that this festival is designed to awaken children's interest in certain areas of culture and support their creative activities.

"The project, which lasted for several months, aroused great interest, and we were able to achieve our goal of becoming a large cultural festival. I would like to especially note that the festival, along with children's creativity, stimulated and intensified the activities of cultural institutions in the regions of the country, leading to gaining a lot of experience," Khanlar Aghalarov said.

More than 2,500 experts were involved in the festival jury; 320 coordinators and 250 system administrators worked on the project.

Deputy Minister of Science and Education Hasan Hasanli and bp's Vice President for the Caspian Region, Communications and External Affairs Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli briefed the ceremony participants about the festival.

It was noted that holding an event aimed at the comprehensive development of children is of great importance both in the country's cultural life and education.

The main goals of the festival were the popularisation of national culture and art, the education of children in the spirit of patriotism, respect for culture, art, and national traditions, and the formation of a cultural way of life.

Next, the festival winners were awarded with prizes.

Recall that the festival's first stage in professional and amateur categories took place from April to June in 122 institutions throughout the republic, and the second from July to August.

The festival's final stage was held on September 1–9 in six cultural institutions: the State Academic Philharmonic Hall, the National Drama Theatre, the International Mugham Centre, the National Carpet Museum, the State Academic Musical Theatre, and the State Children's Philharmonic.

The festival's main purpose was to identify talented children and youth across the country.

An event was also organised at the secondary school of Zangilan's Aghali village as part of the festival, where 20 children performed in categories such as singing art and performance on Azerbaijani folk instruments (tar), piano, and artistic reading.

On July 7, a children's summer camp was organised on the territory of the Goygol National Park for 60 young talents from educational institutions in the cities of Ganja and Naftalan, Dashkesan, Goranboy, Goygol and Samukh, who qualified for the second stage in nominations: folk instruments, painting, art reading, singing art, ashug art, and solo national dance.

On August 26–27, a summer camp was held as part of the events dedicated to Lachin City Day on the boulevard (on the banks of the Hakari River), bringing together 60 young talents who qualified for the festival finals.

Photo credit: Zaur Mustafayev