Today the grand opening of the Seventh International Festival of Turkic-speaking theaters "Tuganlyk" took place.

The official delegation consisting of the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Ranis Altynbayev, artistic director of the Tuganlyk festival, Oleg Khanov, program director Aisylu Sagitova, representatives of the participating theaters, and members of the expert council of Tuganlyk, traditionally laid flowers at the monument to Salavat Yulaev.

After laying in the foyer of the Bashkir Academic Drama Theater named after Mazhit Gafuri, the opening ceremony of the festival was held.

    “Dear participants and guests of the festival! "Tuganlyk" is a bright event in the cultural life of our republic. From May 23 to 30, Ufa will become the center of particular attention not only to the theater audience of the city, but also to the forum participants and its distinguished guests! Tuganlyk is a festival that has become a true celebration for masters and theater fans, and it supports the baton of creativity and friendship between our fraternal peoples. Let the atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding prevail at the festival! I sincerely wish all the participants of the festival inspiration and creative discoveries, and the guests of this festival of theatrical art - vivid impressions of communication with the Beautiful! The seventh international festival of Turkic-speaking theaters “Tuganlyk” is open!”, - the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Bashkortostan Amina Shafikova delivered a welcoming speech.

 For eight days, on the stages of the Bashdramteatr named after M. Gafuri, the State Academic Russian Drama Theater of the Republic of Belarus, the National Youth Theater of the Republic of Belarus named after M. Karim, the Ufa State Tatar Theater Nur and the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theater will show 13 performances of 11 republics : Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Azerbaijan, Crimea, Gagauzia, Kyrgyzstan, Tuva, Khakassia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Altai.

Each performance will be viewed and discussed by members of the expert council - these are the chairman of the expert council, Boris Morozov, the council members: Olga Yoshishina, (Moscow), Sania Kabdiyeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan), Andrey Yastrebov (Moscow), Galina Verbitskaya (Ufa), Tatyana Dzhurova (St. Petersburg), Niyaz Iglamov (Kazan), Khurmatulla Utyashev (Ufa), President of the festival - Rifkat Israfilov, founder of Tuganlyk.

Also at the closing ceremony by the decision of the expert council, the best actors and theater groups in different nominations will be awarded. The winners in the main nominations (“The Best Female Role named after People's Artist of the USSR GA Mubaryakova”, “Best Male Role”, “Best Director”, “Best Performance”) will receive the main prize of the Festival a stylized yurt - a symbol of their home, uniting beginnings of all Turkic peoples.

On this festive evening all the guests of the Festival were greeted by Boris Morozov and Oleg Khanov. Oleg Zakirovich shared the secrets of a special ritual before going on stage and noted that the actor should always be a guardian. On this occasion, all representatives of the theaters participating on the stage were awarded designer amulets for good luck (artist Albert Nesterov).

The solemn concert was closed with the Anthem of the festival “Tuganlyk” and the performance of Ufa musicians - the ethno-groups Yatagan and Idel Aralbaev.

At 19:00, on the stage of the Bashdramteatr, the first competitive performance of the festival, “Zuleikha opens eyes”, took place (G. Yakhina, Y. Pulinovich, director. Airat Abushakhmanov).

Also this afternoon, in the mirror corridor of the Bashkir Academic Drama Theater named after Mazhit Gafuri, a meeting of the heads of the theaters participating in the Tuganlyk International Festival of Turkic Theaters was held. The meeting, which brought together guests from Tuva, Altai, Crimea, Gagauzia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Tatarstan, was held by the artistic director of the Festival, Oleg Khanov.

At the meeting, each representative spoke about the development of his theater, its main tasks, successes and problems. The issues of preserving the national language in the theater, popularization of theatrical art, new trends of modernity and many others were touched upon.

Each leader expressed special gratitude to the Festival Directorate and the Bashkir Academic Drama Theater for the warm hospitality, for the invitation to participate, for such a meeting. In turn, Oleg Zakirovich Khanov wished the participants fruitful participation, positive ratings and a good opening of the Festival.