The next Children’s Art Festival was concluded with the organization of the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Science and Education, and the Heydar Aliyev Center. The final award ceremony of the festival was held on December 26 at the Heydar Aliyev Center.
Elchi.az reports that the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Leyla Aliyeva, and Alena Aliyeva attended the ceremony.
First, information about the festival was provided. It was noted that the purpose of the festival, which has been held since 2023 on the initiative of Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, is to instill national and moral values in the younger generation, preserve and promote traditional art fields, and raise a generation devoted to their state and homeland. The project is also part of the activities carried out by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, led by the First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva, in the direction of supporting culture and young talents.
The Children’s Art Festival, acting not only as a competition format but also as a broad creative platform aimed at the development of children, contributes to the formation of their teamwork, stage culture, creative approach, and self-expression skills. This platform has already transformed the Children’s Art Festival from a competition format into a cultural mechanism that serves to form a talent bank across the country. Thus, the festival, which brings together children aged 6–17 from all regions of Azerbaijan, has created ample opportunities for creative exchange in professional and amateur categories over the past period.
More than 27,000 participants applied for this year’s festival, which started in March 2025, and this indicator once again confirms the large scale of the project and the growing interest of children in art.
Based on the results of the selection stages, winners were determined in 19 individual and 5 collective nominations. Thus, the total number of winners in the festival was 512.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Culture Adil Karimli stated that one of the main directions of the cultural policy implemented under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev is to provide state support for the identification of young personnel and young talents. According to the Minister, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, under the leadership of First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, is implementing numerous projects to identify young talents and support their education, as well as their individual development.
“Over the years, many of our young talents have been involved in education programs abroad with the initiative and support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, personally Mehriban Aliyeva, and various steps have been taken towards their individual development. The Children’s Art Festival is held on the initiative and idea of Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. One of the tasks set was to establish a mechanism for identifying young talents with creative thinking and children with special natural talents throughout the country, to identify them, and to carry out individual development work with them. This project came about precisely on the basis of that idea. The Children’s Art Festival, which is a very important project in terms of its content and idea and is being held for the second time, is not just an event. Children and young people from 86 cities and regions, including the districts of the capital, applied to the festival. Winners in 24 nominations were determined based on a three-stage selection. This is a comprehensive platform for identifying creative individuals. A cadre bank of young talents is formed here. Based on the created electronic analytical platform, we determine which talents are in each region and which regions are more inclined to different types of art. We know which talents exist in which region. This allows for data-based management in the field of culture in the future, and also creates wide opportunities for identifying them in the initial stage and bringing them to professional education and then to management in the professional cultural field,” the Minister of Culture emphasized.
Then the award ceremony of the festival winners took place. Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva congratulated the winners and wished them success.
Later, a concert program was presented with the performance of the winners. Within the framework of the program, the winners performed solo, as well as duet numbers with famous art figures and specially prepared musical-stage compositions.
Melissa Guliyeva, a ten-year-old member of Children-Youth Development Center No. 5, who won the festival’s painting nomination, said that her work depicting our ancient markets was selected as the winner: “I am very happy to be among the winners. I will continue to work on myself and create more beautiful works.”
Raul Huseynov, a twelve-year-old who took first place in academic vocals, won with the song “Gularam, Gulsen” from the works of composer Fikret Amirov. He said that his rivals were strong enough, but he did not have difficulty winning. Raul noted that he has been involved in music for three years and won first place for the first time. R.Huseynov plans to continue his activities in this direction in the future and represent Azerbaijan in the international arena.
It should be noted that the Children’s Art Festival ensures the equal participation of every child based on the principles of inclusiveness. Within the framework of the festival, children with disabilities also participated and won in the nominations of harmonica performance, decorative-applied art, and painting. An accessible environment created for children with special needs allowed them to freely demonstrate their talents. The festival promotes equal opportunities and social integration in the field of culture.
It is planned to continue the project in the coming years with a broader program and support the creative path of thousands of children.