Türkiye Culture Route Festival to celebrate cultural treasures

The vibrant tapestry of Türkiye’s rich culture will captivate audiences at the upcoming Türkiye Culture Route Festival throughout the rest of 2024.

The Türkiye Culture Route Festival, an eight-month-long culture and arts marathon, is set to kick off with the Orange Blossom Carnival in Adana from April 13 to 21. The Culture Route Festival will then be followed in Şanlıurfa, between May 25 and June 2; Bursa between June 1 and 9; Samsun between June 8 and 16; Trabzon between June 22 and 30; Van between June 29 and July 7; Nevşehir between Aug. 3 and 11; Erzurum between Aug. 17 and 25 and Çanakkale between Aug. 31 and Sept. 8.

Between Sept. 14 and 22, Gaziantep will host the Türkiye Culture Route Festival, which will feature the Gaziantep International Gastronomy Festival, also known as Gastroantep.

The Ankara leg of the Türkiye Culture Route Festival and the Konya Mystic Music Festival, a new addition to the calendar, will both begin on Sept. 21 and end on Sept. 29.

Istanbul will host the Festival from Sept. 28 to Oct. 6, Diyarbakır from Oct.12 to 20, Izmir from Oct. 26 to Nov. 3, and Antalya from Nov. 2 to 10.

As in the previous years, the Türkiye Culture Route Festival will once more feature notable figures.

This year, one of the festival’s stars will be Pablo Picasso. In 2023, 50 distinct exhibitions were organized across Europe and America to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death, one of the most prominent artists of the twentieth century. As part of the 2024 Culture Route Festival, an amazing Picasso exhibition featuring more than 80 original works will be the festival’s major attraction for three months and will meet art enthusiasts in several cities.

Another master who will be hosted at the festival will be Sebastiao Salgado. The legendary name of documentary photography and photojournalism will amaze everyone for three months in the picturesque setting of Tophane-i Amire with the “Genesis Project,” a tribute to nature.

The digital installation HOLOFLUX by Turkish architect and artist Güvenç Özel, known for his successful works, is a standout piece at the festival. Holoflux, which also took place at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California last year, will offer art lovers an artistic installation in a public and architectural experience space.

“Frida Kahlo, the Life of an Icon” is another ambitious exhibition in the festival program. It will allow visitors to trace the deep artistic imprint of Frida Kahlo, one of the most impressive names in twentieth-century art in Mexico and the rest of the world.

The digital exhibition “From sketch to pixel digital art,” “Anatolian Edition,” is another significant project encouraging young talents. Through this initiative, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is assisting up-and-coming digital artists in their creative processes and promoting them nationally and worldwide.

The internationally acclaimed artist Refik Anadol has created an exclusive art piece for the Culture Route Festival that is definitely worth seeing.

“Atatürk on the culture route”

Created utilizing an artificial intelligence algorithm, Atatürk will also be featured at the festival. The piece features prominent architectural monuments from the sixteen cities on the festival route as vital representations of Türkiye’s rich history and culture. The key structures that Atatürk visited in these cities will be brought back to life using AI-powered digital art.

International partnerships will bring together artists from all around the world to perform at the festival. The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Estonian Orchestra and Choir, Chinese Performing Artists, and many other international surprise groups and orchestras will perform in Türkiye.

Grammy Award-winning trumpet player Chris Botti, one of jazz music’s most renowned figures, will offer stunning concerts for art enthusiasts alongside the Presidential Symphony Orchestra.

The sold-out events and performances of the Ministry’s art units will be presented to art enthusiasts in festival cities, as well as performances that will be staged for the first time as part of the festival. One example is “Şahmeran” (Shahmaran), an opera performed by the Turkish State Opera and Ballet based on a well-known Anatolian mythology.

Performances explicitly prepared for the festival cities based on their historical, cultural, and mythological stories will also be displayed throughout the festival route.

The orchestras, choirs and ensembles of the Directorate General for Fine Arts, including the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, will use music and dance to convey the universal language of art on stage.

Ancient cities, squares, and public spaces will be enlivened with events that appeal to all segments of society; our local artists, who have been shaped by the richness of these territories, as well as world-renowned artists, will meet on the same platform.

The Türkiye Culture Route Festival will also provide an excellent opportunity for Turkish food to shine.

New Logo, Single Name

The festival, which has expanded year after year and has been named after the cities, districts, or iconic buildings where it is held, will now be known as the Türkiye Culture Route Festival, with a single logo to ensure strong institutionalization. The new logo for the Türkiye Culture Route Festival, which celebrates all aspects of Turkish culture and art, features seven different colors reflecting Türkiye’s seven regions.

The festival’s details can be found at kulturyolufestivali.com, which has been updated with an English language option added. The festival calendar and events will be available daily and hourly for art enthusiasts.

In addition, “children’s villages” will be set up in Merkez Park for nine days, with colorful activities, workshops, stage shows, theatres, playgrounds, and many other events. Stage plays featuring cartoon characters familiar to children from television, fair tents, thematic playgrounds, and activity tents offering art training in music, drama, dance, ballet, and painting will be held in children’s villages during the festival.