Organized to contribute to Turkey's international brand value, the “Turkish Culture Road Festivals” will be held on September 16-October 23.
A press conference was held at Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) regarding the festivals to be held in Istanbul, Ankara, Diyarbakır, Çanakkale and Konya this year by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, in his speech here, said that the festivals where culture and art meet are organized on unique routes.
Stating that the festivals, which were first organized under the name of Beyoğlu Culture Road after three years of work, brought together all segments of society from 7 to 70 with culture and art, Ersoy said, “This festival was so appreciated that we included our capital city in our festivals. We organized a festival in Ankara on the cultural route that we drew and strengthened with the restorations. Combining the traditional with the modern, we both presented classical music concerts at CSO ADA ANKARA and organized various events in Ankara Castle, which bears the traces of centuries.” said.
Minister Ersoy emphasized that this time the festivals will provide citizens with a unique culture and art experience with much more inclusive and widespread activities in 5 provinces and said, “The Turkish Cultural Road Festivals will start on September 16 and will last until October 23. In addition to Istanbul and Ankara, those living in Çanakkale, Diyarbakır, Konya and the surrounding provinces will be fully satisfied with culture and art in more than a month.” he said.
İzmir and Adana will be added to the Festival Cities
Pointing out that they will offer many activities to suit everyone's taste and interest, from opera to cinema, from literature to dance, from music to digital arts, Ersoy said:
“We will spread our enthusiasm for culture and art from these 5 cities all over Turkey in waves. We will add İzmir to these cities in April next year. In addition, we will include Adana Orange Blossom Carnival within the scope of Turkey Cultural Road Festivals. Together, we will carry this beautiful festival in Adana to better places. We also have different cities in mind. In the meantime, we have kept the duration of the festivals especially long so that our citizens from neighboring provinces can also participate in our events.”
Noting that more than 5 thousand events will be held with the participation of nearly 15 thousand artists in 3 provinces where millions of people are expected to attend, Ersoy gave information about the festival programs and the venues where the events will be held.
“Our Goal Coincides with Our 2023 Tourism Strategies”
Stating that there will be paid events within the scope of our festivals, but most of the events will be held completely free of charge and open to the public, Ersoy said, “We are one of the rare countries in the world that organizes such a wide range of cultural and artistic events. Our goal is to expand our festivals to reach everyone. This goal also coincides with our 2023 tourism strategies, because our goal in tourism is to reach increasing numbers and quality, as it was this year.” made its assessment.
Pointing out that Turkey is a country full of natural beauties and has very attractive places for tourists, Minister Ersoy said, “We also have extraordinary assets in the field of culture, as long as we can promote them in the best way possible. If we want to make our cities a brand, if we want to be competitive in tourism, if we want to differentiate from rival countries, we can do this with our archaeological values, cultural characteristics and differences in gastronomy. We believe in this with all our heart and we are aware that culture and art events that embrace the whole society, such as the Turkish Culture Road Festivals, make very important contributions to this path.” he said.
Pointing out that one of the important contributions of the festivals is the reworking and restoration of the event venues in the cities where the events are held, and bringing a new spirit to their feet, Ersoy said:
“I think these works are just as important as the events, because we entrust these places, which were inherited from hundreds of years ago, to the next generations, fully and completely. Only for Beyoğlu Cultural Road, from Atatürk Cultural Center to Galata Tower, from Atlas Cinema to Galata Mevlevi Lodge, there is no historical, cultural and architectural value that we have not touched. We included everyone from galleries, foundations, research institutions to antique dealers on that route and created a culture and art ecosystem. Even though the festivals end on these routes, the spirit of the festival remains and culture and arts investments and projects continue. And that's exactly what we're aiming for.”
“We Will Reveal Our Wealth in Gastronomy”
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy stated that the historical and cultural elements brought to the fore are added to the cultural and artistic life of the country, as well as to tourism, and said, “This year, we will reveal the richness of our country on this subject with various events in the field of gastronomy at this year's festivals. We are organizing a brand culture and art festival, which is rarely seen in the world, which is decisive in international travels and attracts serious audiences. The numbers also confirm my words. Last May, we held more than 84 events at the Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival at 53 different locations, with 6 culture and arts institutions and a total of 453 local/foreign artists. At the end of the 1.500-day festival, we reached nearly 16 million visitors.” There were over 10 million interactions on social media. Streets and squares turned into stages for 12 days.” used the phrase.
Stating that they reached 16 million 2 thousand visitors at the end of 300 days at the Capital Culture Road Festival, they held 96 concerts, 69 exhibitions, 11 opera-ballets, 27 theaters, 61 open-air events, 88 talks and 155 children's activities, Ersoy added:
“All of these events attracted the attention of the world community. We hosted 2021 press members from 29 countries for Beyoğlu Cultural Road in 56. This year, we hosted a total of 31 press members from 56 different publications from 67 countries for both Beyoğlu and Başkent Kültür Yolu festivals. Press members and opinion leaders will come from abroad for our current festivals. This achievement we have achieved with the Turkish Culture Road Festivals is invaluable. We are determined to continue and make our festivals traditional by expanding them every year. We will continue to enrich our activities together by keeping the pulse of the society.”
The program ended with the participation of Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya, Deputy Ministers of Culture and Tourism Ahmet Misbah Demircan and Özgül Özkan Yavuz, Beyoğlu Mayor Haydar Ali Yıldız, ministry officials and sector representatives taking a souvenir photo.
About Festivals
Organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to contribute to Turkey's international brand value, the Turkish Cultural Road Festivals will open its doors in five cities this year.
The festivals, which spanned more than a month, will bring together everyone from 7 to 70 years old with numerous art events from different disciplines, from architecture to literature, from painting to music, from design to theatre.
The “Troy Cultural Road Festival”, which will be held in Çanakkale between 16-25 September, will bring together more than 40 events consisting of exhibitions, concerts, talks and workshops in more than 100 venues.
Within the scope of the festival, the people of Çanakkale and the locals will have the opportunity to watch the Fire of Anatolia “Troy” Show, the video mapping show of the legend of Troy, the State Opera and Ballet concerts and musicals, the screening of the movie “Bağlılık Hasan” and many movies about the epic of Çanakkale.
More than 1 artists will meet with art lovers in more than a thousand events in 23 venues between October 46st and 6rd at the Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival. At the festival, where Spanish musician Buika will meet music lovers at the AKM Opera Hall, Yavuz Bingöl and Ali Rıza Ghorbani will give a concert together.
At the festival, where Devrim Erbil's solo exhibition will meet art lovers at AKM Gallery, an exhibition of manuscripts by literary figures including Behçet Necatigil, Oğuz Atay, Tomris Uyar and Orhan Pamuk will be presented to art lovers at Tophane-i Amire Tek Kubbe.
Başkent Kültür Yolu will be held on the same dates between October 1-23 with the participation of nearly 70 artists at 5 different points on a route that includes the Ulus district and its surrounding historical and cultural venues, with more than 500 activities.
The Carmina Burana concert to be performed by the Göbeklitepe Opera, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and the State Polyphonic Choir, the United Nations special concert, the British singer, at the festival where Ankara residents and art lovers in the surrounding cities will experience a unique culture and art experience for 23 days, from concerts to exhibitions, from sports competitions to talks. Yusuf Islam concert and US artist Della Miles concert will meet with Ankara residents.
Diyarbakır Sur Cultural Road will carry Turkey's cultural and artistic wealth from Diyarbakır to the world with more than 8 thousand artists and 16 events between 2-500 October.
From Dengbejs to the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, from Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian songs to iwan nights, all values will come together in one festival. Cappadocia's balloons will fly over Diyarbakir, and the festival will become colorful with the sky observation event from Keçiburnu Terrace.
The 19th International Konya Mystical Music Festival, which is included in the Turkish Cultural Road Festivals, will be held between 815-22 September as part of the 30th anniversary of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi's events.
Besides artist Cengiz Özkan from Turkey, musician Jordi Savall from Spain, El-Hadra Ensemble from Egypt, Teyyub Aslanov from Azerbaijan, Pera Ensemble from Germany, Nasiba Abdullayeva from Uzbekistan, Dhruv Sangari from India and Iran Hesameddin Seraj from Turkey will meet with music lovers at the Selçuklu Congress Center.
During the festival, the music of the tekke will rise from Mevlana Square and the mehter band will rise from the Central Train Station. The Mevlana Museum will host the sema ritual called "Ayin-i Şerif".
Detailed information about the events that will take place within the scope of the festivals can be found on the internet address “www.kulturyolufestivalleri.com”.
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