The first international festival “Samarkand Plov” was held in Samarkand on August 1-3 of this yea. Famous chefs from our country and foreign countries took part in it.

On the 1st day of the festival, a competition was organized with the participation of the most skilled chefs from all regions of our country, and on the 2nd day, the plov was cooked with the participation of foreign chefs. In particular, world-famous chefs from Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Indonesia, the People's Republic of China, India, Poland, Jordan, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan and a number of other countries demonstrated their culinary talents. On the 3rd day of the festival, participants witnessed the main event of the “Samarkand Pilaf Festival” - the process of preparing a 7-ton pilaf. At the event, held in the “Bokiy City” complex at the “Silk Road Samarkand” international tourism center, 50 local and 5 foreign chefs prepared more than 7 tons of pilaf in a specially prepared large cauldron. Participants had the opportunity to see the processes with their own eyes and taste the finished dish. The prepared pilaf was delivered to institutions such as orphanages, specialized boarding schools for children with disabilities, and nursing homes. Competitions with the participation of chefs were organized for 3 days on the occasion of the festival. 20 types of unique pilaf were prepared, master classes were held by chefs, the processes of preparing pilaf from foreign countries, exhibitions of crafts and oriental sweets. At the end of the festival, an award ceremony was held for the winners of the competition. Adiz Boboev, the acting governor of Samarkand region, spoke about the special attention being paid to the development of gastronomic tourism, especially the wide promotion of national dishes on an international scale. After that, the winners of the competition were awarded. In the competition, chefs from Khorezm region took 3rd place, Bukhara region took 2nd place, and Tashkent city took 1st place. The winners and participants who actively participated in the festival, media representatives and bloggers who covered the events were also awarded valuable souvenirs and cash prizes from the Samarkand regional governor and partner organizations in various nominations. The festival award ceremony was followed by a large concert program. During the international festival, “Samarkand Pilaf ” was not only a dish, but also a symbol of the hospitality, tolerance and cultural wealth of our people.