The final ceremony of the 13th international puppet show festival ended its work in Tehran's Niavaran cultural complex.

The ceremony was attended by Iranian minister of culture along with puppet show artists, As an interesting point it was the puppets themselves! who managed the ending ceremony of the event specialy a jiant puppet resembeling Mobarak , the Iranian traditional symbol of this art.

It was said during the ceremony that the organizers are preparing for the public and national presentation of the shows. Next the organizers paid respect to Mary Fontes, head of group called" last hiding" from UK and puppet show from Switzerland for

In the final changes to the 18^th Tehran international Quranic art competition photography has been added to the visual art section of this years event while family and hijab are new subjects of interest in the exhibitions.

The organizer of the event told reporters that 38 countries are participating in the 18^th exhibition and 300 Iranian publishers along with 30 foreign publishers will display their new works for visitors.

Twelve plays will go on stage on the first day of 13th Mobarak International Puppet Theater Festival Thursday.

Theater troupes from various cities including Tehran, Karaj, Anzali Port and Gorgan will stage their puppet shows in several different theaters in Tehran.

The Ferdowsi Hall will host “Rumi Puppet Theater” by Behruz Gharibpur and “Bijan and Manijeh” By Rasul Najafian will be performed at the Niavaran Cultural Center. “Samak Ayyar” by Javad Zolfaqari will go on stage at the Chaharsu Hall of Tehran City Theater Complex.

The first part of the “Call for Entry” was released in March and includes 10 sections; Revival, Regional Theater, Festival of Festivals, Street Theater, New Experiments, Panorama of the Iran’s Theater, International Competition, Iranian Theater Bazaar, Theater Photo & Posters and People’s Award.

The complete Call for Entry of 2011 covers 4 new competitions; Play & Play Reciting, Research (on documentary theater, performance, economy & theater), Workshops and the Best University Theses.

In addition, the Radio & TV Drama section will be held biennially due to low number of entries.

Supported by the Dramatic Arts Center, Dramatic Arts Association of Iran and the International Theater Institute, the 29th Fadjr International Theater Festival will run from Jun 6 to 15 under the direction of Mohammad Heidari, in Tehran.

Iran has launvhedf its first Ethnic Culture and Folklore Festival during a ceremony held at the Khanat caravanserai in the capital city of Tehran.

The festival will be held simultaneously at Tehran's Golestan Palace, Sa'ad Abad Historical and Cultural Complex, Niavaran Complex and Khanat caravansera.

This is the first time that all Iranian ethnicities take part in a national event, presenting their traditional

Head of Tabriz City Council announced the second competition of architectural design for a monument resembling Shams Tabrizi in Gajil Maghbaratulurafa.

Rasoul Darskhan told reporters"the subject of the competition is designing a memorandum along with a cultural and art complex in the center of Shams Tabrizi present monument in Golestan garden.

He emphasized that Tabriz municipality is the main body supporting the project along with the arichitectural groups, Organization of engineering order (national and provincial) and association of Tabriz engineers.

The 13th Mobarak International Puppet Theater Festival will run in Tehran from July 22-27 promoting Iranian culture and identity.

In a press conference held at Tehran’s City Theater Complex on Saturday, secretary of the festival Ardeshir Salehpur gave details of the program. The 13th edition of the event will center on the motto “Iranian Identity Is Global Culture”, said Salehpur, adding, “We must learn to join the global culture with our Iranian identity, so we have dedicated the central theme of the festival to Iranian plays.

“Over 120 countries applied to the festival, indicating the fact that Iranian puppet theater has even improved its already high status in the world.

Call for 18th Quran photography competition "Shams' has been announced.

All photographers are invited to send their works to the secretariat of the event by 1st Mordad 1389 ( 21st august 2010).

Subjects are: Qadr nights, Quran beyond borders, youth and quranic teachings, Eid

27th International Quran Competition announced the best reciters and participants in different sections of the event in a ceremony held on Wednesday at Tehran’s Summit Conference Hall.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Minster of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini, as well as several literary and cultural figures attended the award presentation ceremony.