TEHRAN (IP) - The closing ceremony of the First National, International Anthem Festival was held on Wednesday evening in Tehran’s Vahdat Hall with the introduction of the best works.
According to Mustafa Zibainejad, the secretary of the festival, 2,670 groups including 25,000 people participated in this festival, and 555 groups accepted and performed.
In the international section, six countries including Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, and Palestine participated in this festival with 50 works.
Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij organization, read the message of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in this ceremony.
In his message, the Leader stated that the combination of poetry, voice, and song in group performance is the secret to the exceptional effect of religious and national anthems in all parts of the world, and thank God Iranian art has been able to make our country among the top in this area.
Mohammad Mehdi Esmaeili, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, at the ceremony, referred to the importance of the “anthem” that the anthem played an important role in instilling the spirit of resistance in the people of Iran,and there are many memorable songs that remind us those important days.
He added: “After the Holy Defense, we saw a decrease in attention to this art until once again, by order of the Leader, special attention was paid to this art and today, in all the artistic parts of the revolution, the anthem is one of the most important tools.”
In this ceremony, the song “Salaam Farmandeh” was recognized as the best song of the year.
Qasim Soleimani’s special award was also awarded to the “Nasim Rahmat” hymn group from Tehran province.
In the international section, the group “Shams al-Horiya” of Lebanon was honored.