Yusef Jalali

Press TV, Tehran

Ethnic diversity is what makes Iran an interesting tourist attraction. This diversity manifests itself in diverse languages, costumes, foods and of course, music.

At this exposition, this ethnic diversity quickly catches the eye, since local cultures from four corners of Iran are put on display ALL in the same place.

The number of languages spoken in Iran is another manifestation of the country’s ethnic diversity. Besides Persian, other languages such as Azeri, Kurdish, Balouchi and even Arabic are spoken in the 80-million populated country.

Basem comes from Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan. He leads a music band, which performs local Arabic music indigenous to the Iranian Arab community in Khuzestan.

Basem says despite the stark contrast in local traditions, he is attached to his country.

One of the goals of such a colorful event is to preserve these precious and long standing traditions and costumes, which have been forgotten in the shadow of modern technology. A case in point is Gelimbafi or Kilim-weaving, which is recorded as one of Iran’s oldest tangible heritages.

For foreign tourists, who want to take a tour around Iran to grasp its culture, this expo cuts the long journey short!

As life gets intertwined with the rapid urbanization trend, these beautiful traditional costumes are only seen in villages, and local tunes are no longer a much-heard music to the ears.

Organizers of this event hope that the exposition shall help shed light on the importance of reviving the traditions of the past.

These people say ethnic diversity is what makes Iran unique and appealing to foreign visitors. However, despite this cultural difference, they say, they are bound together by a strong sense of nationality, and no matter what ethnicity they come from, they call themselves Iranian.