Under the patronage of the two holy shrines: The opening ceremony of the tenth annual Cultural Festival of Imam al-Mojtaba (peace be upon him).

In the Mazar of Rad Shams [return of sun] in the Hilla city and in an atmosphere filled with loyalty and love of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) and to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Imam al-Hassan (peace be upon him), the tenth edition of the annual central cultural festival of the birth anniversary of the Imam al-Hassan al-Mojtaba (peace be upon him) held under the slogan: "Imam al-Hassan al-Mojtaba (peace be upon him): the wisdom of peace and pride of Islam" by the people of Hilla under the auspices of the holy shrines of Imam al-Hussayn and al-Abbas (peace be upon them), was launched on Saturday evening the 14th of the month of Ramadan 1438 AH corresponding to the 10th of June 2017 and which will last three days including many activities.

The opening ceremony was attended by the representatives of the holy shrines and sanctuaries in Iraq, in addition to religious, cultural and academic figures from inside and outside of the province of Babylon, as well as a large gathering of the people of Hilla who attended to participate in the opening ceremony of this festival.

The opening ceremony began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran and standing to read Surat al-Fatiha in memory of the martyrs of Iraq from the security forces and the popular mobilization, followed by the decrees of raising the flag of Imam al-Hassan (peace be upon him) amid the atmosphere of joy and pleasure, to flutter in the sky of the city that was linked to his holy name, which is an annual tradition that has been established by the committee supervising the festival.

Followed by the martyr's operetta that was prepared and directed by Dr. Mohamad Hussayn from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Babel University, inspired by a realistic story of a martyr of the popular mobilization who was a brother to nine sisters and who left them to defend Iraq and its sanctities.

Then came the welcoming speech of the people of Hilla delivered on their behalf by the preparatory committee of the festival Engineer Hassan al-Hilli, followed by the word of the holy shrines of Imam al-Hussayn and of al-Abbas (peace be upon both of them) delivered by the Head of the Department of Intellectual and cultural Affairs at the Imam al-Hussayn's (p) holy shrine; sheikh Ali al-Fatlawi, which he started by presenting the greetings and congratulations for the birth anniversary of Imam al-Hassan al-Mojtaba (peace be upon him).

Then the Secretary of Sahla Masjid; Dr. Mudar al-Madani and the poet Mudar al-Alusi have presented poems about Imam al-Hassan (peace be upon him), expressing the loyalty depth and highlighting his unique personality and active role in the victory and pride of the believers.

The ceremony was concluded by poems and religious stanzas showing the greatness of the occasion by Radood Hameed Twayrjawi.

The attendees then headed to the opening of the photo exhibition of the martyrs of the popular mobilization and the security forces, held by the Orphan charity institution and another exhibition of paintings held by the group of Civilization youth from the province of Babylon.