📩 29/09/2023 13:40
Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival, which is being held for the fourth time this year, will start tomorrow in Istanbul.
Speaking at the press conference held at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) regarding the festival, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy stated that AKM, which was opened 2 years ago, has hosted 2 thousand 556 events and hosted nearly 2 million 300 thousand visitors to date.
Ersoy pointed out that AKM will host 1 million visitors within the scope of the Beyoğlu Cultural Road Festival and said that they predict that the number of visitors this year will reach 2 million by the end of the year.
Noting that AKM deserves praise for many features from design to functionality with its sound, light and stage systems, Ersoy said, "We are proud to host artists and groups from home and abroad who want to be a part of this stage, on a stage equipped with the latest technology, and to bring our people together with world-class shows." We are pleased. With the work we carried out under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we brought important cultural centers to our people. We rebuilt and restored these buildings and turned them into places full of culture and art. “We spread culture and arts all over our country in our festivals.” he said.
“Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival Will Be the Stage for Fun, Colorful Culture and Art Events”
Emphasizing that the first of the Turkey Culture Road Festivals started with the "Cappadocia Balloon and Culture Road Festival" and that they organized more than 40 events at 300 different points, Minister Ersoy gave the following information:
“After Cappadocia, we started our 2 festivals simultaneously. These festivals, which we held in Sümela and Palandöken between 19-27 August, received great interest from our people. While around a thousand artists participated in more than 500 events at the Sümela Culture Road Festival, around a thousand artists accompanied more than 400 events in the Palandöken Festival. After our Central Anatolia, Black Sea and Eastern Anatolia regions, this time we came to our Marmara region and held the Troy Culture Road Festival between 9-17 September. We organized more than 40 events in more than 500 venues in Troy. Then, we moved to the Southeastern Anatolia Region and organized the GastroAntep Festival between 16-24 September. While Antep hosted magnificent and delicious gatherings, we organized more than 40 events in nearly 400 locations. We achieved successful results in our 5 completed festivals.”
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy stated that the Capital Culture Road Festival, which will end on October 1, hosts more than 50 events in more than 700 locations, and that the Konya Mystical Music Festival, where mystical music from various regions of the world meets, will end tomorrow.
“Striking Selection from Unforgettable Ballet Works Will Be Exhibited”
Referring to the Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival, Ersoy said, “Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival will witness fun, colorful cultural and artistic events for 16 days. “The festival will bring Istanbulites together with more than a thousand events at more than 50 locations.” He stated:
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy stated that the "Opening Night" concert prepared by İDOB will be staged at the opening of the Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival and said, "On this special night, the soloists, soloist dancers, orchestra, choir and 'Modern Dance Group Istanbul' dancers will appear before art lovers. The festival will also showcase selections from the masterpieces of the world opera repertoire by composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Bellini, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Donizetti, Mascagni, Puccini and Bizet, as well as striking selections from the unforgettable ballet works of Minkus and Adam. World-famous ballet performances will be watched at the concert, where the orchestra conductor will be İbrahim Yazıcı and the choir conductor will be Volkan Akkoç.” he said.
Stating that in addition to the popular musicals "Fiddler on the Roof", "La Bayadere", "Rigoletto" opera, "Faust" operas and "Carmen" ballet will meet the audience at the festival, Ersoy said that the State Theaters will open the curtains of the "A Thousand and One Nights" play at the festival.
Minister Ersoy stated that private theater plays "Complete Us O Love", "Şıngır Şıngır Beyoğlu", "Küheylan", "Cherry Garden" and "Çeko and Pepo" will also be shown at the festival, adding that "Fans Of The Galaxy Star Wars", "Fans Of The Galaxy", "Fans "One Hundred Coexistence in ', "Turkey Growing with the Republic", "Plus 700", "Calligraphy and Calligraphic Tendencies" and "Andy Warhol Pop Art Istanbul", "Birvaktile", "Intersecting Worlds: Ambassadors and Painters", "Coffee Break" He noted that many exhibitions, including "The Adventure of Coffee in Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics", "Dance of Colors", and "Digital Art from Sketches to Pixels", will meet the festival visitors.
“Diyarbakır Sur Culture Road Festival Will Start on October 14”
Pointing out that Fire of Anatolia will perform 2 shows at the festival, Ersoy continued as follows:
“The sound of the Izmir State Symphony Orchestra, 'Onno Songs' and Duygu Soylu and Dino Merlin concerts conducted by Gilbert Varga will be heard from AKM. Tunisian Emel Mathlouthi, world-famous for the peace songs she sings on social media, will perform one of the important concerts of the festival at AKM Türk Telekom Stage on the evening of October 10. Benin-born Anqelique Kidjo, known as the diva of Africa, is the other name taking part in the festival. Kidjo, with her unique and powerful interpretation, will take the stage at AKM on the evening of October 11. Riff Cohen, who has written successful songs in the field of folk music, will be at the AKM Türk Telekom Stage on the third day of the festival on October 12. Riff Cohen, whom we know with the songs he sings in Hebrew, Arabic and French, will give an unforgettable concert. Also Young Voice II. The final of the Turkish Music Voice Competition will also be held within the scope of the Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival.”
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy added that the Diyarbakır Sur Culture Road Festival will start on October 14, and the Ephesus Culture Road Festival, where the restored Historical Tekel Building will be the focal point, will start on October 28, and said, “We will continue our 11-stop festival marathon on November 4-12.” We will end this year with the Antalya Culture Road Festival. There is no rest just because we finished the festivals. We will immediately start preparations for next year. Our goal for 2024 is to hold our festivals in 15 provinces. “In 2028, we will spread our festival enthusiasm to 35 provinces.” said.
Referring to the discussions about the movie "Dry Days" at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, Ersoy said, "Our Ministry's stance on this issue has been very clear from the very beginning. As the Ministry, we are always supporters of culture and art. However, we are also against making propaganda for a terrorist organization by using the power of art and using art as an element of provocation.” made his assessment.
Istanbul Hosted 8 Million 11 Thousand 524 Foreign Visitors in the First 246 Months
Stating that Istanbul broke an important record in the first 8 months of this year, Ersoy said, “Istanbul hosted 11 million 524 thousand 246 foreign visitors. The number of foreigners coming to Istanbul increased by 13,20 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Foreign visitors who visited Istanbul were Russia, Germany and Iran respectively. "Iran was followed by the USA and Saudi Arabia." he said.
Ersoy stated that they took steps to increase the weight of the Michelin selection in Turkey and continued his words as follows:
“Last year, 53 restaurants in Istanbul took their place in the Michelin Guide. Among the restaurants, one of them received two Michelin Stars, four of them received one Michelin Star, and one of them stood out in its sustainability values and was entitled to receive a Green Michelin Star in addition to one star. Apart from the star-rated restaurants, 10 restaurants were included in the 'Bib Gourmand' category and the remaining 38 restaurants were included in the selection category. When we look at the leading rival cities in gastronomy tourism in the world, we see that 201 restaurants in Tokyo, 118 in Paris, 73 in New York and 69 in London have received stars. “As of now, we are not at the point we deserve, but we have big goals.”
Pointing out that Izmir and Bodrum were included in the Michelin Guide with the additional protocol signed this year, Ersoy said, “I and my team, under the leadership of our President, are working day and night to carry out projects worthy of the 100th anniversary of our country. Finding excuses, getting tired, and not completing the work you started are not in our vocabulary. In this context, I would like to thank all my friends who contributed to our cultural path festivals.” he said.