The Türkiye Culture Route Festival has started in Nevşehir

The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, said regarding the Türkiye Culture Route Festival, "This year, we aim to bring together more than 30,000 artists in over 4,000 events across 11 festivals in 11 of our cities, reaching millions of art enthusiasts." The first stop of the Türkiye Culture Route Festival, the Cappadocia Balloon and Culture Route Festival, brought Ersoy to Nevşehir, where he said in a hotel in Uçhisar that they initially established routes on the pathways to meet the nation’s unique cultural heritage with the civilizational heritage of cities through these festivals. Ersoy added that they aimed to bring together people of all ages and backgrounds, as well as foreign guests, through art on these routes, and through the festivals, they aim to support culture, art, and artists while increasing the global recognition and branding of the cities hosting the festivals, especially starting with Türkiye. He reminded that this journey began in 2020 with the Beyoğlu Culture Route Festival in İstanbul and continued, "We said we would gradually spread this to all of Anatolia, to all of Türkiye by increasing the number of cities where we hold festivals each year. In this context, last year, we held 7 major events in 5 cities. Last year, nearly 20,000 artists had the opportunity to meet with more than 30 million people and art lovers in over 4,000 events. As promised, this year, we have increased the number of cities to 11 and are starting today in Nevşehir with the Cappadocia Balloon Festival. Following the Cappadocia Balloon Festival, we will have the Erzurum Palandöken, Trabzon Sümela, Çanakkale Troy, Ankara Capital, Konya Mystic, İstanbul Beyoğlu Culture Route, Diyarbakır Sur, İzmir Ephesus, and finally the Antalya Culture Route Festivals. Meanwhile, we included the Gastro Antep Festival in Antep just before the Capital Culture Route Festival into this chain of festivals. In total, this year, in our 11 cities, through 11 festivals, we aim to bring together more than 30,000 artists with millions of art lovers in over 4,000 events.

The festivals will last 100 days

Ersoy announced that the Nevşehir Cappadocia Balloon Festival would continue until August 13, featuring approximately 300 events with over 1,000 artists participating. Highlighting the total duration of 100 days, Ersoy noted, "It will run from August 5 to November 12. Over these 100 days, we continued with consecutive dates or short breaks in between, so art lovers will have the chance to enjoy a plethora of events in different cities over these 100 days, starting today. These festivals serve many purposes. They support culture, art, and artists while also facilitating our people’s easy, comfortable, and effective access to culture and art. While promoting our cities, we also play a significant role in transmitting our cultural values to the next generation. In this regard, I view these activities as very important. Of course, this also places a great responsibility on you, the esteemed members of the press. We particularly ask you to follow these events in person whenever possible and to convey them to printed media, microphones, and screens from their locations. Ersoy emphasized that a large part of the event is carried out for free, highlighting that this has led to high participation in previous years, "Our goal is not limited to 11 cities. By adding 4-5 new cities each year, we aim to hold cultural year festivals in 35 cities by 2028.