In Azerbaijan, there is an annual festival called Nar Bayrami. It is celebrated in mid-October/November in Goychay, an area renowned for cultivating the greatest number of pomegranate species in the world. The Goychay Pomegranate Festival, or Nar Bayrami, has been held since 2006, and on November 3rd it was first held. Azerbaijan's history is fundamentally linked to the cultivation of pomegranates. Pomegranate (known in Azerbaijani as “nar”) is an extremely unique fruit, with Azerbaijan being one of the only countries in the world where all varieties of pomegranate grow. The pomegranate has firmly become a symbol of Azerbaijan over the years. Poems have been written, songs have been sung about it. In Azerbaijan, the fruit is called the king of fruits. The pomegranate culture can be defined as practices, knowledge, traditions, and skills related to the cultivation of the fruit. The fruit is used for many culinary applications, as well as for crafts, decorative arts, myths, storytelling, and other creative endeavors. The element is associated with rural agriculture and with the farmers and rural communities that grow the fruit. Members of these communities are proficient in environmental characteristics and harvesting techniques.
In traditional Azerbaijani society, the pomegranate plays a variety of cultural and social functions, including being used in traditional meals and being cited in poetry. Symbolically, the pomegranate represents prosperity, abundance, and energy, and it is often associated with love and passion in local legends. Religious people view the fruit as representing eternity. There is a wide variety of pomegranates available in Azerbaijan. Approximately 200 varieties of pomegranates are cultivated throughout the country. The most famous ones in this country are Veles, Shirin, Guleysha, and Shikhbaba. These pomegranates differ in their size and the thickness of their peels.
Each year, the festival includes a fair and exhibition, which showcases various varieties of pomegranates and products made by local enterprises. Music and dance performances are also part of the festival, as well as athletic performances, pottery, milling, blacksmithing, folklore groups, art, and paintings. Along with traditional Azerbaijani music and dances, the people in the area also bond over recipes, storytelling, art, and craft all related to the pomegranate. Approximately 50,000 tonnes of fruits are grown each year, and pomegranate-related products (including juice, concentrate, jam, jelly, wine, grenadine, seeds in syrup, and more) are on display. Many people use the seeds to tell their fortunes, and the annual celebration displays pride in centuries-old traditions. As part of the festival and the surrounding culture, there is an active exchange of information and communication between community members and visitors to the event. This demonstrates the diversity of nature and culture in the region.
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