The Cultural Road Festivals, which started with the Beyoğlu Cultural Road Festival two years ago to contribute to Türkiye’s international brand value, will be organized this year in 11 cities, namely Nevşehir, Trabzon, Erzurum, Çanakkale, Gaziantep, Ankara, Konya, Diyarbakır, Istanbul, İzmir and Antalya.
The first stop for the festivals starts in Cappadocia. The festival will bring together more than 300 events consisting of exhibitions, concerts, talks and workshops with art lovers free of charge.
More than 1,000 artists will take part in the events to be held in more than 30 venues for nine days with a visual feast with unique fairy chimneys and colorful balloons.
The festival will start with the Fotomarathon, which will be held with the participation of hundreds of amateur and professional photographers. The photographs taken during the festival will be evaluated by a jury and the selected works will be awarded a prize of 156,000 Turkish Liras.
The gala concert of the festival will be performed by the Çukurova State Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Eray İnal in Paşabağları Valley. Ferman Akgül, the soloist of the concert, will perform works by poets like Aşık Veysel and Neşet Ertaş, as well as the popular songs of Manga.
Within the scope of the Cappadocia Balloon and Culture Road Festival, best known theater plays and musicals will also be staged.
The festival will also present exhibitions. The exhibition “To Cappadocia, With Love” will display works by Devrim Erbil, produced using techniques consisting of mosaic, mother-of-pearl, stained glass, batik, carpet, original printing, marquetry and painting. It will be exhibited at Güray Museum during the festival.
The digital installation “Renaissance Dreams,” created by world-famous artist Refik Anadol by training artificial intelligence with the visuals of all sculptures from the Renaissance period, and featuring data sculptures in dynamic form, can be seen in the Church of the Virgin Mary.
