The 2015 China (Qufu) International Confucius Cultural Festival kicked off on the evening of Sept 26 to commemorate the 2566th birthday anniversary of Confucius.

The occasion coincided with the award ceremony for the 10th UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy in Confucius’ hometown of Qufu in Jining, Shandong province.

The opening ceremony of the 2015 China (Qufu) International Confucius Cultural Festival is held on Sept 26 in Qufu, Jining city, Shandong province. [Photo/iqilu.com]

Performers give a display at the opening ceremony. [Photo/iqilu.com]

Acrobatics performance dazzles the audience at the opening ceremony. [Photo/iqilu.com]

The Confucius Prize for Literacy is the first international award to be named after a Chinese person by UNESCO. Established in 2005, the annual award ceremony has now been held in Qufu for 10 consecutive years.

This year’s event saw educational institutions from Chile, Madagascar and Slovakia receive awards.

Following the opening ceremony, the award ceremony for the 10th “UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy” was held, along with the Confucius Memorial Ceremony, 7th World Confucian Conference and the awarding ceremony of the 2015 Confucius Culture Prize.

A series of additional activities were held during the festival, including the UNESCO international symposium on education for all, the “Smart city and the robot system” academician forum and a cultural products expo.

Qiangba Puncog, the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress; Liang Guoyang, Party chief of the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots; Sun Shougang, director of the Shandong provincial department of publicity and Ji Xiangqi, vice-governor of Shandong province attended the opening ceremony.

The cultural festival was initiated in 1984 and has been held for 31 years.