Cultural Road Festivals to start in Cappadocia

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 will start in the Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir's Cappadocia on Aug. 5 as the Cappadocia Balloon and Culture Road Festival. 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.

The festival will also present concerts by famous names in Göreme Festival Area, Paşabağları Valley and Avanos Amphitheater Open Air Stage.

In addition, the Sound of the Street concerts will be held at the festival stages to be set up in Avanos Square, Kayaşehir, Uçhisar Castle, Virgin Mary Church, Göreme Open Air Museum, Zelve Ruins, Ürgüp Square, Üç Güzeller, Ortahisar Castle Square and...