The First ever Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union International Dance Festival will be held in Hyderabad today. Over 115 artists from about ten countries will showcase traditional and contemporary dance forms of their countries, from the Asia-Pacific region, during the event.<br/><br/>Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the festival. Briefing media in Hyderabad, Prasar Bharati Chairman A. Surya Prakash said two artists from each country, one each for Traditional and Contemporary dance forms will perform on the occasion. Prasar Bharati is hosting the event in coordination with the Telangana state government. <br/><br/>Stating that 453 entries were received out of which 389 made on-line, the Chairman said 29 entries were shortlisted for performing in two categories, traditional and contemporary dance forms. <br/><br/>Speaking on the occasion, Doordarshan Director General Supriya Sahu informed that Kathak artists will perform traditional dance from India and a group of artists from Delhi will perform contemporary form.<br/><br/>ABU Secretary General Javad Mottaghi said the festival is aimed at creating a bridge between young people from different parts of the world. Stating that the response from the ABU member countries is encouraging, Dr. Javad said all the ABU members including Pakistan have been invited to take part in the festival.<br/><br/>The participating countries included Maldives, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Fiji, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Malaysia and India.<br/>'<br/>The Festival is scheduled to be telecast live on DD India, DD Bharati, DD Urdu, beside local DD Saptagiri and DD Yadagiri channels today from 5:30 pm onwards. The festival details are available on a dedicated website -aidf.prasarbharati.org and for Social Media, one can follow facebook.com/DanceFestABU and twitter.com/DanceFestABU.