TEHRAN -- A weeklong festival in Lar to commemorate the ancient Larestan region has been scheduled to commence on March 10, 2009.

Organizers also plan to discuss the philology and ethnology of Larestan during a two-day international conference, which will begin on March 13.
Located in Fars Province, the Larestan region is bounded on the north by Fasa and Firuzabad and extends to Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan Province.
Coinciding with the Iranian New Year holiday (beginning on March 21), the event will attract tourists to this region and will introduce them to southern Iranian rituals and costumes, conference secretary Behzad Moridi mentioned in a press release published on Monday.
Visual arts, pottery artworks, handicrafts and calligraphy works will go on display during the event. On each day of the week, one of the cities located in the ancient Larestan region, namely Bandar-Lengeh, Bastak, Bandar Khamir, Bandar Abbas and cities in present-day Larestan, namely Gerash, Khonj, Lar and Evaz, will host the program.
Traditional folk music and theater performances in the Lari language will take place and regional costumes will be worn during the gala, he added.