Turkey’s vibrant tapestry of rich culture will captivate audiences at the Turkish Cultural Route festival, which will run for the remainder of 2024.
The Turkey Cultural Streets Festival, an eight-month cultural and arts marathon, is scheduled to kick off with the Orange Blossom Carnival in Adana from April 13 to 21. The Cultural Streets Festival will then move to Sanliurfa from May 25 to June 2, Bursa from June 1 to 9, Samsun from June 8 to 16, Trabzon from June 22 to 30, Van from June 29 to July 7, Nevsehir from August 3 to 11, Erzurum from August 17 to 25 and Çanakkale from August 31 to September 8.
From September 14 to 22, Gaziantep will host the Turkish Cultural Routes Festival, within which the Gaziantep International Gastronomy Festival, also known as Gastroantep, will take place.
The Ankara performance of the Turkish Cultural Route Festival and the newest addition to the calendar, the Konya Mystical Music Festival, will both begin on September 21st and conclude on September 29th.
The festival will run from September 28 to October 6 in Istanbul, from October 12 to 20 in Diyarbakir, from October 26 to November 3 in Izmir, and from November 2 to 10 in Antalya.
Like last year, the Turkish Cultural Street Festival will once again feature some big names.
One of the stars of this year’s festival is Pablo Picasso: in 2023, 50 different exhibitions will take place across Europe and America to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of one of the most important artists of the 20th century. As part of the 2024 Cultural Route festival, a fantastic Picasso exhibition featuring more than 80 original works will be the centrepiece of the festival for three months, captivating art lovers in several cities.
Another master invited to the festival is Sebastião Salgado: the legendary figure in documentary photography and photojournalism will amaze everyone for three months with his “Genesis Project”, a homage to nature, in the beautiful surroundings of Topfane i Amire.
HOLOFLUX, a digital installation by Turkish architect and artist Güvenç Özer, known for his outstanding work, is a standout piece at the festival. Holoflux, which was also featured at California’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival last year, offers art lovers an artistic installation in a public architectural experiential space.
“Frida Kahlo, the Life of an Icon” is another ambitious exhibition in the festival program, which allows visitors to follow the profound artistic footprints of Frida Kahlo, one of the most striking names in 20th century art, both in Mexico and in the rest of the world.
The Anatolian Edition of the digital exhibition “From Sketches to Pixel Digital Art” is another important project to encourage young talents. Through this initiative, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism supports the creative work of up-and-coming digital artists and promotes them both at home and abroad.
The artworks created exclusively for the Cultural Route Festival by globally acclaimed artist Refik Anadolu are definitely worth seeing.
“Ataturk on the path of culture”
Ataturk, created with the help of artificial intelligence algorithms, will also be featured at the festival. The work highlights notable architectural monuments in 16 cities along the festival route as important expressions of Turkey’s rich history and culture. Key structures that Ataturk visited in these cities will be brought to life using AI-powered digital art.
International partnerships will see artists from all over the world perform at the festival: the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Estonian Orchestra and Chorus, performers from China and many other surprise international groups and orchestras will perform in Turkey.
One of the most well-known names in jazz music, Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Chris Botti, will perform a spectacular concert for art lovers along with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra.
Sold-out events and performances by the Ministry of Fine Arts’ Fine Arts Department will be presented to art lovers in the festival cities, as well as performances being performed for the first time as part of the festival, such as the Turkish National Opera and Ballet’s production of “Şahmeran” (Sahmaran), an opera based on famous Anatolian mythology.
Specially prepared performances based on historical, cultural and mythological stories from the festival locations will also be presented along the entire festival route.
The Directorate General of the Arts’ orchestras, choirs and ensembles, including the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, use music and dance to convey the universal language of the arts on stage.
Ancient cities, squares and public spaces will be enlivened with events that will appeal to all strata of society and bring together local and internationally renowned artists, shaped by the region’s wealth, on the same platform.
The Turkish Cultural Street Festival is also a great opportunity to showcase the charms of Turkish cuisine.
New logo, single name
The festival, which has grown in size over the years and been named after the cities, districts and iconic buildings in which it is held, will now be called the “Turkey Cultural Streets Festival” and will have one unified logo to ensure a strong institutionalization. Celebrating all aspects of Turkish culture and arts, the new logo for the “Turkey Cultural Streets Festival” features seven different colors reflecting Turkey’s seven regions.
More information about the festival can be found at kulturyolufestivali.com, which has been updated with an English language option, and the festival calendar and events are provided daily and hourly for art lovers.
In addition, a “Children’s Village” will be set up in Merkez Park for nine days, with a wide variety of activities, workshops, stage shows, theaters, playgrounds, and more. During the festival, the Children’s Village will host stage plays featuring familiar cartoon characters from TV, fair tents, thematic play areas, and activity tents offering arts training in music, theater, dance, ballet, painting, and more.
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