Melon Day is an annual national holiday in
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
devoted to festivities to celebrate the country's
melon, in particular a recent crossbreed product named "
Turkmenbashy melon" (after Turkmenistan's first president), which is praised for its aroma, taste and massive size. It takes place on the second Sunday in August.
This holiday was established by Turkmenistan's then-President
Saparmurat Niyazov
Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov (19 February 1940 – 21 December 2006) was a Turkmenistani politician who led Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in 2006. He was the Secretary (title), first secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenist ...
in 1994, who preferred to be known as Turkmenbashy (), or head of the Turkmen people. The day's celebrations feature a large display of the fruit in all its varieties, as well as a series of dance and music events, in the country's capital,
Ashgabat.
In his address to farmers in 2004, President Niyazov said: "Almighty God has turned Turkmen soil into a fertile source of an abundance of the tastiest fruits. Among them are Turkmen melons, which are the result of farmers' hard work and which have a unique taste reminiscent of the fruit of
paradise
In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
." In newspapers Niyazov was quoted as saying, "The Turkmen melon is the source of our pride. Its taste has no equals in the world, the smell makes your head spin."
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]
Melon Day is among 24
public holidays
A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year.
Types
Civic holiday
A ''civic holiday'', also k ...
of Turkmenistan – typical titles of which are Drop of Water is a Grain of Gold Festival, Festival of the Poetry of
Magtymguli, Good Neighborliness Day, Race Horse Day, and Carpet Day.
See also
*
Public holidays in Turkmenistan
References
External links
Niyazov's address on the occasion of the Turkmen Melon Day{dead link, date=January 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Turkmen leader inspires devotion to melonBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, August 11, 2003.
Turkmenistan celebrates 'Melon Day'UPI
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...
, August 11, 2002.
Turkmenistan celebrates Melon DayAl Jazeera
Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
, August 23, 2005.
Public holidays in Turkmenistan
National holidays
Melons
August observances
Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month)
Observances about food and drink
Sunday observances