A week-long Sharq Taronalari (Oriental Melodies) music festival ended in Samarkand on 30 August.

Performers from ore than 50 countries participated in the event, which was held at the Registan square, Mo`jiza amphitheater and Yoshlik and So`g`diyona parks.

The grand prize of the festival was not awarded this year. The first place went to Uzbek performer Nodira Pirmatova and Azerbaijani singer Aigun Beilar. The second place was given to artists from Kuwait, Italy and Mongolia. The third place went to representatives of the South Korea, Bangladesh and Israel.

Afghan artists received a special UNESCO prize, while Egyptian performers got a special prize of the jury.

First prize winners Nodira Pirmatova and Aigun Beilar also won in the Best Performance of the National Song contest.