After the primary judgement, 2,500 musicians and vocalists submitted their works to the festival secretariat in five sections of classics (410 artists), regional (770 artists), dastgahi (1,120 artists) as well as creativity in solo performance (60 artists) and composition (100 artists), according to IRNA.
The word dastgah in the Persian language means “system”, as well as “equipment”. The suffix “-gah” signifies a place of doing something. Here, dastgah is used in two different senses: First, dastgah signifies the totality of melodies of a certain musical system for example dastgah-e Shur. Second, the word refers to the frets on a stringed instrument. Dast means “hand”, hence dastgah literally denotes “the place of the hand.”
This year the organizers received more submissions compared to the previous editions of the festival. Last year, about 2,400 musicians and vocalists competed.
Artists in the age of 15 to 18 as the Group A, 19 to 23 as the Group B and 24 to 29 as the Group C are eligible to participate in this festival.
The festival is going to be held under the auspicious of Hooman As’adi.
The organizer of the festival is Iran Music Association, and Rudaki Foundation is cooperating with it.
The evaluations of the submitted works will begin today and the winners will be announced.
Any possible changes in the process of holding the festival will be announced via the festival’s official website and its Instagram page.