The IV International Jam Festival was held in Gabala.

Participants of the festival, held under organizational support of Gabala Region Executive Power, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Azerbaijan National Culinary Center, Azerbaijan National Culinary Association, first of all respectfully honored the memory of the great leader Heydar Aliyev and laid bouquets of flowers to his monument. In the international event held in the park in front of the "Qafqaz Karvansaray" hotel in Gabala, confectioners from Turkey, Iran, Ghana, Georgia, Russia, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, China, as well as masters for the jams production, representing 30 cities and regions of Azerbaijan showed their products. Among those who watched the festival, held under the auspices of the World Association of Culinary Organizations and the International Organization of Folk Arts were senior officials of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Gabala region Executive Power, Azerbaijan National Culinary Center, ambassadors of several countries to Azerbaijan, over three thousand local and foreign tourists. The Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev, the Head of the Gabala Region Executive Power Sabuhi Abdullayev, deputy of Milli Majlis, chairperson of the National Council of Elders Fattah Heydarov, Director of the Azerbaijan National Culinary Center Tahir Amiraslanov and the chairperson of the festival jury, the president of the Uzbekistan Chefs Association Akbar Umarov spoke at the opening ceremony. It was reported that the grandiose jam festival was held in Gabala for the fourth time. Participation in the festival in 2013 of confectioners from 11, in 2014 from 20, and in the past and this year from 30 cities and regions, as well as the last year from 6 and this year from 10 foreign countries testifies that the international prestige of the festival is growing every year. It was noted that the main purpose of these festivals - the preservation of intangible cultural heritage of our people. Jam Festival is also one of the factors that give a great impetus to the development of tourism in Gabala. As it was said during the recent visit to the region by President Ilham Aliyev, Gabala today is the second tourism center in Azerbaijan after Baku. Indeed, hundreds of local and foreign tourists come daily to the region. Gabala has turned into the center of festivals. Organization of the International Music Festival every year by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, make Gabala popular in the world. It was emphasized that jam festival plays an important role in a closer acquaintance with the rich culinary culture of not only Gabala, but also all regions of our country. It was noted that Azerbaijan occupies a special place among the centers of traditional jam production in the world. Jams, produced by masters of our country, differ in taste and wide range from others. This can be clearly seen during the Gabala International Jam Festival. The Gabala jam festival, conducted for promotion of the culture and national cuisine of our country, was attended by teams of eight people from each district, which prepared eight kinds of jams, as well as artistic groups, masters of national applied art of the cities and districts. At first festival was held in the form of competition. To this end, a special commission has been created. The jams of cherry, blackberry, strawberry, quince, walnut, apricot, rose petals, plum and others were presented for the competition. The jams of violets, mint, rose hips, corn, wild alycha, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, yellow raspberries, aubergines and melons attracted the interest of the audience. Commission elected 28 members of the jury. The jury consisted of professionals, and other experts in this field. For the best presentation of the jam, the first place among foreign countries ranked Ukraine, the second - the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, in the competition for the best jam Iran took the first place, the second - China, for the variety of jam types the first place was awarded to Uzbekistan, the second - Turkey. Zardab (cherry jam), Ismayilli (blackberry jam), Ganja (strawberry jam), Shaki (quince jam), Gazakh (walnut jam), Zagatala (apricot jam), Gadabay (rose petal jam), Gabala (plum jam) were awarded the first place among the regions of Azerbaijan. The winner in the nomination "The most unusual jam" was Balaken region (lime blossom jam), in the nomination "the greatest number of species jam" - the team from Baku, in the nomination "best presentation" - participants of Khachmaz. Among the enterprises of jam production the first place was taken by «Gilan Holdinq» Company. On the basis of the jury opinion, the persons who made the best jam were identified. The winners were awarded cups, medals and prizes. After the competition the sale and exhibition of jam were organized. During the festival the companies, producing jams, wine, fruit juices, and food products demonstrated their products. Visitors with pleasure tasted jams, interested in their recipes. Within the festival the exhibition-fair of the products of arts and crafts' masters was held, performances by Gabala artistic groups were organized. The international event was continued with the interesting concert program.