The International Festival of Language & Culture (IFLC) will host the finals of the “Colors of Voices” singing contest in Germany June 17-18, in which 26 contestants from around the world will deliver performances in traditional costumes.
With participants from 160 countries taking part in its events, the IFLC is the world’s largest and most prominent organization for promoting world languages and cultures and is dedicated to cultivating and educating the younger generation and creating a platform to share their cultural heritage with their peers around the world.
Contestants will participate in the finals to be held in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, with 13 finalists competing in the international song contest (Colors of Voices International) on June 17 and 13 in the Turkish song contest (Colors of Voices Turkish) on June 18, according to the IFLC.
We congratulate 13 talented singers who qualify to compete at the #colorsofvoices Turkish song contest among hundreds of others. We look forward to seeing you all in Germany on June 18. #IFLC2022 #contest pic.twitter.com/bmlvMSUeaf
— IFLC (@intFLC) April 9, 2022
According to the organization, the first, second and third place winners take home $1,000, $750 and $600, respectively, while the best song, best costume and best influencer will each be awarded $400. All contestants will receive a certificate of participation and a gift, they added.
On June 26 all contestants will perform a musical titled “The Rise of the Light,” celebrating the 20th anniversary of the festival.
„The Rise of The Light” – Kinder und Jugendliche aus 25 Ländern zeigen zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum des IFLC ein buntes Musical. #iflc2022 #iflc https://t.co/uUKwgSf4lG pic.twitter.com/0IFOKw24EJ
— VGE – Verband für gesellschaftliches Engagement (@VGE_Berlin) June 12, 2022
The festival, which first started in 2003 in Turkey as the International Turkish Language Olympiad, in 2014 changed its name to the International Festival of Language & Culture. Although the first 11 editions of the event were hosted in Turkey, the organizers have held the event in various countries since 2014 because of the Turkish government’s ongoing crackdown on the Gülen movement, which is involved in organizing the culture festival.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) label the faith-based group, inspired by Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen, as a terrorist organization and accuse it of masterminding an attempted coup that took place in Turkey on July 15, 2016.
Although both Gülen and the members of his group strongly deny any involvement in the abortive putsch or any terrorist activities, Erdoğan’s ruling party has jailed some 96,000 people while investigating 622,646 over alleged links to the movement as part of a massive purge launched under the pretext of an anti-coup fight, according to official data.
The Turkish government has been targeting members of the movement, which conducts educational activities as well as charity work around the world, since corruption investigations in late 2013 that implicated Erdoğan’s close circle.