Sales of handicrafts, souvenirs and foodstuff in an annual nomadic festival in the city of Gorgan, northern Golestan province, rose 70 percent from a year earlier, a provincial tourism official has said.
The sales amounted to 24 billion rials (about $570,000) at the festival, the first part of which was held in Gorgan from November 12 to 15, Maryam Hajiebrahimi said on Sunday, IRNA reported.
Exhibitors from all Iranian provinces including Turkmen people promoted arts, crafts, dishes, rituals and genuine hospitality they have preserved from generation to generation. The event was also attended by foreign guests including ambassadors, diplomats, as well as cultural and economic attaches.
Iranian Turkmen are an ethnic community living in Turkmen Sahra region which includes northern and northeastern parts of the country, mainly Golestan, North Khorasan, and Khorasan Razavi provinces.
The second part of the festival is running for four days in Gonbad-e Qabus from November 17 to 20.
Golestan province is home to the UNESCO-registered Gonbad-e Qabus, a one-millennium-old brick tower, which is an exemplar and innovative design of the early-Islamic-era architecture. Narratives say the tower has influenced various subsequent designers of tomb towers and other cylindrical commemorative structures both in the region and beyond.
Tehran times