TEHRAN –The 6th edition of the International ECO-Silk Road Food Festival is planned to be held in the northwestern Zanjan province, the provincial tourism chief has said. 

Participants from Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member countries as well as countries along the Silk Road will be attending the festival, which is scheduled to be inaugurated on July 6, Seyyed Saeid Safavi explained on Tuesday.

The three-day festival offers the opportunity to introduce and promote Zanjan’s tourism and handicraft, the official added. 

Visitors will learn about the culture, traditional clothing, and handicrafts of the participating countries in addition to the local food of different areas, he noted. 

Various workshops and traditional handicraft exhibits associated with cooking and sightseeing excursions will be amongst the side section programs of the festival, he mentioned.

The 6th International ECO-Silk Road Food Festival was initially scheduled to be held in 2020, but it was postponed in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. 

Organized under the auspices of Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, the festival is aimed to introduce healthy traditional foods across the Silk Road region and to publicize unique tourist attractions in the Iranian city.

ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey to promote economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among the member states.

In 1992, the organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The ECO region with an area of more than eight million square kilometers stretching from central to south and south-west Asia and a population of around 450 million inhabitants is well-known for its natural beauties, as well as the diversity of its historical-cultural heritage.

ABU/AM