TEHRAN – Iran’s Art Bureau announced on Monday it will organize the 4th edition of the Arbaeen Pilgrimage International Theater Festival during the large gathering of Shia Muslims in Iraq.

Several theater troupes from various countries will perform during the festival, Kurosh Zarei, the director of the bureau’s Center for Dramatic Arts said in a press conference in Tehran.

The plays will be staged in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, English and Turkish for the pilgrims in different Iranian and Iraqi cities. 

The festival will open in Iran with onstage and street performances and tazieh (Iranian passion play), and it will come to an end in Karbala on October 16.  

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians embark on a journey to the Iraqi city of Karbala to observe the holy day of Arbaeen at the holy shrines of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Imam of the Shia, and his brother, Hazrat Abbas (AS).       

Arbaeen, which will be observed on October 19 this year, marks the end of the 40-day mourning period following the martyrdom of the Imam and his loyal companions on Ashura.

Photo: An Iranian troupe performs tazieh in an undated photo. 

ABU/MMS/YAW