Public Relations Department at Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance reported on Monday that the national Persian Gulf festival will be held in the Persian Gulf from March to April, 2005, in which local and state officials as well as academic and cultural figures and people from various walks of life would take part.

The meeting aims to promote the religious and national identity, build cultural collaboration and solidarity on national, regional and international levels, introduce the historical role of the Persian Gulf, promote cultural status of the strategic Persian Gulf region.

The secretariat of the National Persian Gulf Festival has been established in Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance with the responsibility of arranging and making necessary coordination for the festival.

The National Persian Gulf Festival is to introduce the several- thousand-year-old culture of that part of the old world and the role it has played in Iran's cultural development.

The festival features a number of programs, including introduction of the visual, dramatic and classic arts of the Persian Gulf region, scientific and specialized seminars as well as special fairs such as the exhibition of old maps of the Persian Gulf since the beginning to the present.

Under the cabinet approval, many ministries as well as the state and non-governmental organizations and institutions would be involved in drawing up and outlining general policies and guidelines for organizing the festival.

... Payvand News - 12/28/04 ... --