The concert was held against the background of the traditional oriental architecture of the medieval Poy-Kalon Complex, which was a symbolic reflection of the name of the Festival, “Echo of Centuries”. Eighteen folk groups from all over Uzbekistan greeted the multitude of guests gathered for the major gala which kicked off with exotic sounds of karnai music instruments. Highlighting the traditions of oriental hospitality and Uzbek generosity, girls clad in colorful national costumes passed around sweets and Uzbek flat circular bread.

Khorezm, Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya, Samarkand, Tashkent, Bukhara, Khiva – each region demonstrated its unique costumes, songs, dances and rites.

A taste of contemporary and traditional Uzbek music came from singers such as Zulaikho Boikhonova, Abdulla Shomagrupov, Hosila Rakhimova, Jakhongir Poziljonov, Makhmud Nomozov, Toir Kuziyev and Sato group among others. In what came as a surprise, young talents performed the song Belle from the French musical Notre Dame de Paris. The gala reached a crescendo when Uzbekistan’s Abdukhoshim Ismoilov, a virtuoso of gijjak national string instrument, emerged on the stage and performed, with his trademark mastery, several pieces.

The gala platform was also used to salute the festival participants who emerged as winners, with Gulnara Karimova presenting diplomas and statuettes to each winner. Jorge Espinal, the head of the UNESCO Tashkent Office, which is the co-organizer of the project, also extended heartfelt congratulations to the festival participants.