18th Marivan Int’l Street Theater Festival opens with vibrant parade
The 18th Marivan International Street Theater Festival officially opened on Sunday, October 26 in the Kurdish border city of Marivan, drawing large crowds of local residents, theater enthusiasts, and visiting artists from across Iran and abroad.
The festival will continue through October 30, IRNA reported.
The opening ceremony featured performances by Marivan’s children, who delivered short plays and poetry centered on “environmental protection and care for nature,” spreading messages of “friendship, peace and respect for the earth.”
A colorful parade followed, moving to Mellat Park, with local drummers, ritual performers, and twelve horse-riders performing Kurdish dances, filling the streets with music, joy, and cultural unity.
Over 200 theatrical works were submitted nationwide, with 43 groups selected for participation, including troupes from Tunisia and India.
Shows span categories such as open competition, ritual-traditional, experimental, youth and children, international, and retrospectives of award-winning past performances, highlighting both local traditions and contemporary innovations in street theater.
In a message read during the ceremony, Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Abbas Salehi, described street theater as “a living, popular art form” and “a clear symbol of the coexistence of cultures and indigenous arts under national unity.”
He said the festival fosters “interaction and exchange of new ideas” among artists of different ethnicities and nations, enriching theatrical knowledge and creativity.
Salehi added that the festival also contributes to local economic development, “By attracting culture and art enthusiasts, the wheels of the regional economy are set in motion, creating new job opportunities and promoting the creative economy of Kurdistan Province.”
The Marivan festival has emerged over the years as one of Iran’s most prominent outdoor theater events, bringing performances out of traditional stages and into everyday public spaces, allowing citizens to experience theater as part of daily life. This year’s edition promises to showcase a rich blend of local culture, innovative artistic expressions, and international exchange.
He expressed hope that the event would “generate hope and vitality, strengthen public participation, and continue to convey a message of peace, friendship, and progress for all Iranians.”