The Mugam Festival or Shusha Festival is an annual cultural and musical festival held in

Shaki, Azerbaijan Shaki ( az, Şəki) is a city in northwestern Azerbaijan, surrounded by the district of the same name. It is located on the southern part of the Greater Caucasus mountain range, from Baku. As of 2020, it has a population of 68,400. The center o ...

. The festival features traditional Azerbaijani music known as

mugam Mugham ( az, Muğam) or Mughamat ( az, Muğamat) is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik. It is a highly complex art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific ...

Pioneers

One of the major pioneers of this festival was

Uzeyir Hajibeyov Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn oghlu Hajibeyov ( az, Üzeyir bəy Əbdülhüseyn oğlu Hacıbəyov; russian: Узеир Абдул-Гусейн оглы Гаджибеков, translit=Uzeir Abdul-Guseyn ogly Gadzhibekov; September 18, 1885November 23, 19 ...

who was a

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

in 1938. Hajibeyov dedicated his life to preserve the traditional music of Azerbaijan. Another pioneer was

Rashid Behbudov Rashid Behbudov ( az, Rəşid Məcid oğlu Behbudov, Azerbaijani Cyrillic: Рашид Бейбутов; 14 December 1915 – 9 June 1989) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani singer and actor. Rashid Behbudov was born in Tbilisi in 1915. His father, ...

, also the winner of

, who participated in every festival. The Mugham Festival was founded and is traditionally celebrated in the Azerbaijani city of

Shusha / hy, Շուշի , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg , image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govhar ...

. The last Mugham Festival in Shusha took place in 1988. Because of the conflict in the

Karabakh Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura (Caspia ...

region, Shusha has been occupied by

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n forces since 1992 and all Azeris have fled the city. Today the festival lives on and has been held in Shaki since November 1994. Every year thousands of people participate in the festival.

Children's festival

The Children's Mugham Festival, which is also held in Shaki, has emerged from the Mugham Festival. During the Children's Mugham Festival, many talented children, mainly refugees from the occupied regions of Azerbaijan, get the chance to share their music and sing to a large crowd.

References

News on Mugham Festival
Music festivals in Azerbaijan Shaki, Azerbaijan Autumn events in Azerbaijan Music in Shusha Events in Shusha {{Folk-dance-stub