Türkiye is a country with a long history and culture that contains many interesting things, especially unique and impressive festivals.
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| The sky of Cappadocia in Central Türkiye is decorated with many colors of hot air balloons. (Source: Shutterstock) |
Hot air balloon festival in Cappadocia
Cappadocia is located in Central Türkiye, is one of the famous wonders, recognized by UNESCO as a world natural heritage. This is an extremely popular tourist area whose geology is a layer of sedimentary rocks formed in lakes, streams and ignimbrite reserves erupted from ancient volcanoes from 3-9 million years ago.
Over time, Cappadocia's rock layers eroded into hundreds of giant stone columns with tower shapes. The soft volcanic rock blocks were sculpted by the people of Cappadocia to create houses, churches and monasteries. With their creative minds and resilience, the people here have contributed to creating the majestic landscape and long-standing historical culture in Cappadocia.
During the summer in Cappadocia, the town of Ürgüp always organizes the famous Hot Air Balloon Festival and attracts many tourists. With more than 150 hot air balloons from around the world participating, the July sky in Cappadocia is as beautiful as a magnificent painting.
When coming to the festival, visitors also have the opportunity to participate in hot air balloon competitions, enjoy beautiful landscapes from above and immerse themselves in concerts, dance performances, DJ sets, and festivals. Cuisine…fills the town. In the evening, the balloons on land will be lit up in mesmerizing spherical light shows.
Istanbul Jazz Festival
If you are a Jazz music enthusiast, you cannot miss the Jazz Festival - one of Turkey's most special music events taking place every July in Istanbul.
This festival attracts top Jazz artists from around the world such as Eric Clapton, Jools Holland, Tori Amos and Sting. This year, the festival takes place from July 3 to 18 and features Grammy Award winner Gregory Porter and Rock phenomenon Chris Isaak.
In addition to enjoying Jazz music, visitors can also enjoy Blues, Country, Hip Hop and many other music genres at various locations throughout the city.
Oiled Wrestling Championship Kirkpinar
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| Wrestlers compete in the 661st annual historic Kirkpinar Wrestling Championship, in Edirne, Northwest Türkiye. (Photo: Francisco Seco) |
Oil wrestling festival, officially called Kirkpinar - a traditional Turkish sport dating back to 1346. Kirkpinar oil wrestling championship is a summer event held over several days (usually at the end of June). or early July) in the city of Edirne, western Turkey.
In this wrestling festival, all wrestlers can participate regardless of region, religion, or age, and are enthusiastically responded to by the Turkish people. Participants will wear kispet, a traditional garment made from buffalo hide, and apply olive oil to their bodies.
The winner will receive the Kirkpinar gold belt, generous prize money and perhaps most prestigious of all, the title “Başpehlivan” (Chief Wrestler). Before the match, local authorities will organize performances with 40 Davuls and Zuma symphonies.
Kirkpinar Festival is so attractive that it gathers millions of followers, many of whom even give up their work, time, and travel thousands of kilometers to "see" the bloody wrestling matches. Even the President of Türkiye came to watch and award prizes to the festival's champion. Therefore, the Kirkpinar festival can be considered one of the biggest sporting events taking place in Western Turkey that visitors cannot miss.
Istanbul Tulip Festival
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| Various types of tulips bloom in Istanbul. (Source: AFP) |
Tulips are one of the traditional symbols of Istanbul and are considered the national flower of Türkiye. From the 2.000th to the XNUMXth century, Turkish farmers under the Ottomans bred over XNUMX different types of tulips and planted them throughout Istanbul. Since then, tulips have become a precious flower and the tulip festival has existed for hundreds of years, becoming a symbol of Türkiye.
In İstanbul, April opens with gentle rays of sunlight like pouring honey, millions of tulip buds begin to bloom. A brilliant Spring throughout Istanbul. To fully enjoy the festival, visitors should go to Emirgan Park. This place gathers more than 30 million large and small tulips, creating endless "fields" of flowers. In addition, coming to the festival, visitors can enjoy the colorful walkways of daffodils, water hyacinths and other fragrant flowers.
Every year at this time, millions of tourists from all over flock to Istanbul to attend one of the world's largest tulip festivals. Not only watching flowers, visitors also discover many interesting and surprising things behind the world-famous flower as well as about the human culture of the country across the Eurasian continent.
Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival
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| Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival. (Source: terrarealestate) |
The Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival is one of Türkiye's most famous cultural events, held annually on the outskirts of Antalya city center. Besides world-class opera and ballet performances, visitors here also have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the wonderful space of the nearly 2.000-year-old ancient Roman theater.
Built by architect Zenon, this ancient structure can accommodate up to 12.000 spectators and has a diverse history: once a roadside inn and later a Seljuk palace . Today, singers and ballet dancers from around the world gather here to perform within these ancient walls.
As a country at the intersection of three continents and major religions, Türkiye has a diverse and colorful culture. Although not too modern or luxurious, what Türkiye hides is always very unique, making visitors always admire and be surprised.
Hopefully the above information will give visitors the most general overview of the festival in Turkey - a country famous for its many cultural heritages and ancient works.
(according to Euro News)
