Kyrgyzstan celebrates Komuz Day with great fanfare, impressive displays

Celebrating Komuz Day (Kabar)

Osh: Kyrgyzstan celebrated with great fanfare Komuz Day, a special cultural event that brought together around 500 komuzists to play Komuz, the Kyrgyz national three-stringed musical instrument.

During the event organized by the Department of Culture of Osh city, the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan and located in the south of the country, musicians, university students, and students of musical colleges and theaters of the city and philharmonic performed a Mash Botoi festive melody.

The 1,000 performers, dressed in traditional costumes, were cheered by the large enthusiastic crowds who marked the cultural show that has become an official annual celebration, national news agency KABAr reported.

Celebrating Komuz Day (Kabar)

In July, Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov signed a decree to celebrate Komuz Day annually on September 9, stressing the significance of preserving the national culture.

Considering the rapid growth of high technologies, the preservation of the national culture is one of the important activities of state entities and civil society, the decree explained, KABAR reported.

“National culture creates conditions for the further consolidation of society and strengthening the unity of the people of Kyrgyzstan. It is impossible to image the traditional music as an integral part of the spiritual culture of the Kyrgyz people without komuz.

“Komuz holds a special place in the traditional culture of the Kyrgyz people. The melodies of the komuz carrying in themselves philosophical thoughts, lifestyle and culture, passed down from one generation to the other and have survived to the present days.

“Under current conditions, it is necessary to give the Komuz a new meaning and it should become a symbol of the unity of the cultural diversity of the Kyrgyz people. The cultural integration of the people of Kyrgyzstan will become the basis of peace, harmony in society and the socio-economic development of the country.

The Komuz, Kyrgyzstan’s famous musical instrument (Kabar)

“In this regard, it is necessary to strengthen the role of traditional music in order to expand the intercultural dialogue of the ethnic communities of Kyrgyzstan.

“In accordance with the decree the Komuz Day will be celebrated annually on September 9.”