Mongolians participate in Asian Festival

The second Asian Festival was held in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, between May 12 and 14 with the participation of 14 Asian countries including Mongolia.

It was the first time that Mongolia took part in the Asian Festival.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev opened the festival themed "The Colors of Tradition".

In his opening speech, the president said presiding over the EU Council, Bulgaria attached great importance to enhancing Europe's dialogue with Asia within the AsiaEurope Meeting and promoting cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The president said most people usually put politics and economy first, but on a day like this, it was essential to stress the great importance of cultural cooperation, particularly people-to-people contacts.

Indonesian Ambassador to Bulgaria Sri Astari Rasjid greeted the visitors of the festival on behalf of the 14 participating countries.

Rasjid said this year's Asian Festival in Sofia came during the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council and brought Asia closer to Bulgaria through culture, sports, food and tourism. Bulgaria was an important link between Europe and Asia.

Each Asian country has a stall at the event to show the visitors something special about their country.

Models of Mongol Costumes LLC, throat singer of Tumen Ekh Ensemble Kh.Damdin and singer D.Burmaa represented Mongolia at the festival.

The participating countries also staged more than 50 music, dance, handicraft and cuisine events in the city's Borisova Garden.

The Asian Festival, which started in 2017, was organized with support from Sofia Municipality, the State Institute for Culture with the Foreign Ministry, and the ministries of tourism and culture.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev visited the Mongolian stall during the festival.