Manas festival planned for Sept 6

The 6th Manas International Culture and Tourism Festival will be held on Sept 6 in Artux city, Kizilsu prefecture, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

At the opening ceremony, more than 1,000 people will sing Manas. One hundred people from Uqia county will play an ethnic group musical instrument named the Aozikumuz.

The heroic epic Manas is the most treasured expression of the Kyrgyz people.

Li Qiangsheng, director of Culture, Sports, Radio, Film and Television Bureau of Kizil prefecture, said that since Manas was listed as the World Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009, the prefecture has established research centers and museums in counties and townships to cultivate more inheritors. The Manas singing has been set as part of the courses in primary schools.

A forum on how to better inherit Manas will be held during the festival, said Gulxat Xirali, director of the publicity department of CPC Kizil Prefectural Committee.

Visitors can also appreciate local ethnic groups' costumes, traditional sports activities such as lamb tussling, national wrestling and hawk hunting.