Zakho hosts fourth Shawl and Shabak Festival
Shafaq News- Zakho
Thousands gathered in Zakho, a city in northern Iraq's Kurdistan Region known for its river landscapes and cross-cultural heritage, for the opening of the fourth Shawl and Shabak Festival.
The two-day festival brings together folk artists, academic researchers, and international ensembles enjoying Kurdish dress, music, and traditions.
Each evening, a folkloric market unfolds at the Dalal Bridge —a historic stone arch over the Khabur River in central Zakho— bringing together dengbêj* singers from all four parts of the Kurdish homeland: Iraq, Turkiye, Syria, and Iran. International ensembles from Armenia and Nigeria are also taking part this year, according to Shawan Abdi, a member of the organizing committee.
Morning sessions run in parallel at the University of Zakho, pairing academic seminars with folkloric programming. A traditional costume showcase, in which 40 young men and women present Kurdish dress to live audiences, forms the festival's centrepiece, an effort organizers say is aimed at connecting younger generations to a living heritage.
The festival takes its name from the shawl and shabak, a hand-woven garment produced from goat-hair thread using craft methods transmitted across generations. Still worn at weddings, national occasions, and public ceremonies, it occupies a place in Kurdish identity roughly analogous to national dress in other cultures.
* The dengbêj tradition, a form of unaccompanied lyrical poetry passed down through generations, was inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2021.
