TEHRAN – The 17th edition of the Imam Reza (AS) International Festival will open tomorrow with the birthday celebration of Hazrat Masumeh (SA), the sister of the Imam (AS), at her holy shrine in Qom.

The ten-day festival is scheduled to offer a wide variety of programs in different Iranian provinces, the director of Imam Reza (AS) International Art and Cultural Foundation, Mahmudreza Barazesh, said in a press conference held on Tuesday.

The programs include theater performances, book fairs, art exhibitions and cultural seminars. Exhibitions of rare Persian and Arabic manuscripts and documents will also be organized.

Cities in the provinces of Hamedan, Bushehr, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, North Khorasan, Kohkiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, and Markazi will host sessions on religious pomes.

The Razavi Theater Festival, an event dedicated to plays on religious themes, will be held during the festival in East Azarbaijan. 

A number of musical performances will also be held in Tehran while several calligraphy exhibits will be organized in South Khorasan Province.

Sistan-Baluchestan will host an exhibition of graphic designs, and Isfahan will showcase a collection book illustrations in an exhibit during the festival.

The organizers also plan to hold special programs and performances at religious sites.

Seminars are also scheduled to be held on Imam Reza (AS) in Ardebil, Kermanshah, Yazd and several other cities.

The festival will also be held in several countries in collaboration with Iran’s Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, the Ahl-ul-Bait World Assembly, and several other organizations.

A large collection of cultural products will be put on display at the Razavi Permanent Exhibit in Mashhad, where the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) is situated. 

The festival will come to an end in Mashhad on July 14 that marks the birthday of Imam Reza (AS).

Photo: A view of the holy shrine of Hazrat Masumeh (SA), the sister of Imam Reza (AS), in Qom. (Mehr/Seyyed Ruhollah Musavi) 

RM/MMS/YAW