MANISA - The 468th International Mesir Festival was inaugurated in Aegean city of Manisa on Friday.
Manisa Governor Refik Arslan Ozturk, Manisa Mayor Bulent Kar, numerous officials and foreign guests attended the ceremonies held in the city on occasion of the inauguration.
Ozturk, Kar, Azerbaijani actor Iftar Piriyev and chairperson of Turkish-Macedonian Interparliamentary Friendship Group Fiyat Canovski lighted the traditional "Nevruz fire" together.
Afterwards, a "Mesir preparation ceremony" was held. The traditional dessert "Mesir" will be distributed to the local people of Manisa on Sunday.
Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, several ministers, 15 ambassadors and inhabitants of the city will attend the "Mesir distribution ceremony," officials said.
-MESIR-
Also known as "power paste", Mesir is a blend of 41 different spices and its annual festival has been celebrated in Manisa for nearly 500 years.
As its name implies, it is intended as a general cure-all and tonic, and was invented by Hafsa Haftun, the wife of an Ottoman sultan, as a medicine for the masses.
Although its somewhat incongruous nature may have meant that it took a while to catch on, the locals are now so thankful for her invention that they fling it from the minaret of the Sultan Mosque once a year.
Exactly what these antics are supposed to cure remains something of a mystery, but the event itself also includes plenty of craft exhibitions, concerts and sporting tournaments.
(DO-AÖ)