CULTURE
SABANTUY TO BE CELEBRATED IN BAKU
A solemn ceremony to celebrate the Tatar traditional holiday Sabantuy will take place on July 15 at 10 a.m. at the Ismat Gayibov stadium in Bakikhanov district in Baku, permanent representative of Tatarstan to Azerbaijan Nail Zaripov announced at a meeting with journalists held at the International Press Center “Novosti-Azerbaijan” on Friday.
According to Zaripov, the name of the Sabantuy festival, which symbolizes the end of the agricultural cycle, originates from the Turkic words “saban” (plough) and “tuy” (feast).
He announced that the forthcoming festivities will include performances of singers and dance groups from Baku and Kazan (Tatarstan’s capital) as well as a variety of competitions and games, and invited residents and guests of Baku to join the event.
Nail Zaripov expressed a specially gratitude to President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO, Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva for her support of the Tatarstan President Mentimer Shaymiyev’s idea to include this traditional holiday of Tatars in the list of UNESCO’s Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.