The festival will spread across different parts of Istanbul. (AA Photo)
Istanbul will host the Türkiye Culture Route Festival from Sept. 26 to Oct. 4, bringing concerts, exhibitions, theater and ballet performances, workshops and gastronomic events to venues in the city.
Organized by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the festival was first launched in 2021 under the name “Beyoğlu Culture Route Festival” and will be held in Istanbul for the sixth time this year.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said Istanbul was being considered not merely as a festival venue but as a cultural route in its own right, bringing together the traces of different civilizations, beliefs and cultures.
“İstanbul is a unique city that brings together the traces of different civilizations, beliefs and cultures and allows the past and present to coexist,” Ersoy said. “For this reason, we consider Istanbul not only as a festival venue but as a cultural route in its own right.”
He said it was particularly meaningful that the story of the Türkiye Culture Route Festival had begun in Beyoğlu in 2021 and that Istanbul was now hosting the festival as its 20th stop.
“For nine days, we will transform Istanbul’s squares, museums, historic buildings, stages and different neighborhoods into meeting points for culture and art,” Ersoy said, adding that the program aimed to bring the city’s cultural heritage together with different generations through world-renowned orchestras, local artists, exhibitions, performing arts, gastronomy routes and children’s activities.
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to open festival
The festival’s opening concert will be performed by Britain’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Turkish Telekom Opera Hall of the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM).
The program will also feature the National Arab Orchestra, which combines classical and contemporary interpretations of Arab music with orchestral traditions, as well as “Carmina Burana,” the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, pianist and composer Büşra Kayıkçı, İncesaz, the Presidential Classical Turkish Music Choir and the eighth Istanbul International Folk Music Festival.
Public concerts at Galataport’s Clock Tower Square will feature Özcan Deniz, Oğuzhan Koç, Murat Boz, Kıraç, Simge, Poizi, Bengü, Ceza and Bayhan.
The AKM Turkish Telekom Open-Air Stage will host performances by Aydilge, Resul Dindar, Poizi, Oğuzhan Koç, Derya Uluğ and Motive.
The performing arts program will include the “Stanislavsky Ballet Gala” at the AKM Theater Hall, under the artistic direction of the team that performed at last year’s Bolshoi Ballet Festival.
Other productions on the program include “Swans,” “Carmen,” “Delirium,” “The Abduction from the Seraglio,” “Cinderella” and “There Is Actually No Spoon.” Musical and opera performances aimed at children will also be staged as part of the festival.
The AKM Gallery will host “Three Painters: Alaettin Aksoy, Mehmet Güleryüz, Komet,” featuring works from the Taviloğlu Collection.
Exhibitions, talks, a FotoMarathon, karaoke sessions, children’s activities and workshops will be held at the Tophane-i Amire Culture and Art Center, Rami Library, Büyük Çamlıca Mosque, Tarık Zafer Tunaya Culture Center, Taksim Mosque Culture and Art Center and museums across Istanbul.
The festival’s gastronomy program will offer routes highlighting Istanbul’s culinary heritage, from centuries-old restaurants to street food. The routes will stretch from Beyoğlu to Moda, the Bosphorus to Şile, and Eminönü to Vefa and Sarıyer.
Programs in Beyoğlu, Galata, Karaköy, the Historic Peninsula, Fatih, Beşiktaş, İstinye, Kanlıca, Beykoz, Şile and Kadıköy Moda will be guided by chefs, academics and content creators including Vedat Başaran, Maksut Aşkar, Emre Şen, Oğuz Yenihayat, Özge Samancı, Aylin Öney Tan and Kübra Yüzüncüyıl.
The festival will thus spread across different parts of Istanbul, bringing together music, stage arts, visual arts, workshops, children’s programs and gastronomy activities at cultural institutions, historic sites, public squares and neighborhoods.
