In the month of October, the Uzbek Language Festival was celebrated in Eindhoven in the building of the organisation ‘Stichting Ik Wil’ (I want foundation) in co-operation with the public foundation ‘Vatandoshlar’ (citizens). The representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Benelux were present in this ceremony.
The festival opened with a master class on cooking the Uzbek national dish “Palov” in the morning. The invited staff members from the consular department of the Republic of Uzbekistan inaugurated this event. This was followed by interesting and entertaining games for children and adults. Visitors could read books that talked about the history of Uzbekistan, their traditions, and their culture. Guests could also watch a video presentation on their homeland. One important part of the program was trying out the national dress of Uzbekistan.
History
Every year Uzbekistan celebrates October 21 as the ‘Feast Day of the Uzbek language’ The Uzbek language is one of the largest languages belonging to the Turkish language family. 50 million people around the world speak this language. On October 21, 1989, Uzbekistan adopted the Law on the State Language. It established the legal basis of the state language, giving Uzbek the status of a state language.
The representatives of almost 15 countries visited the event. Ms. Gulbakhor Djalilova the festival organisor and her team were happy to celebrate the first Uzbek language festival in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
A report by Chaitali Sengupta
