The 3rd International Esenyurt Folk Dance, Music and Art Festival has started.

The International Esenyurt Folk Dance, Music and Arts Festival, held for the third time this year in Esenyurt, Istanbul, started with a magnificent parade featuring 500 dance groups and artisans from 35 countries. The festival continued with an opening ceremony, where citizens enjoyed performances from various countries’ dance groups and a concert by the Kardeş Türküler music group.

Organized for the third time this year by the Esenyurt Municipality, the festival included the establishment of the “International Artisans Street”. In this street, booths displaying 11 international handicrafts and 18 Anatolian handicrafts were set up. On the first day of the festival, Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, after dancing the halay with dancers in Havana Park, planted an olive tree to symbolize peace and brotherhood. Following the parade with the participation of different countries’ dance groups and artisans, a moment of silence and the reading of the National Anthem took place at the Rıfat Ilgaz Open Air Theatre, where the opening ceremony was held. After the ceremony, various countries’ dance groups took the stage to perform. After the dance performances, a concert by the Kardeş Türküler music group took place. The citizens showed great interest in the events, and it was announced that the festival would continue with various dance performances and concerts until Sunday, July 21.

Before the parade, Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer stated, “As of today, we are starting the Esenyurt International Folk Dance, Music and Arts Festival in Esenyurt. We are planting an olive tree in our Havana Park as a symbol of brotherhood and peace. 500 of our artists have come from 35 countries. They will be our guests for 5 days in a colorful way. They will showcase their folk dances and sing their own folk songs. We also have a variety of teams from Anatolia. Just now, we opened the ‘Street of Artisans’. There are incredible handicrafts. Each country has brought its own handicrafts. They have not only brought them but are also performing workshops there. In the evening, we are continuing the process with Kardeş Türküler. Tomorrow, Manuş Baba will perform, the day after tomorrow, Anadolu Ateşi, and later Tuğçe Kandemir, and every day in a different neighborhood, these guests will showcase their talents. They will treat us to their own culture, and then we will share our culture with them. We will turn Esenyurt into a garden of a thousand flowers, as Yaşar Kemal said. When we came, there were problems related to urbanization in Esenyurt. There was a lack of a sense of belonging to Esenyurt. As a scientist, when I saw this, I asserted that our fundamental motto would be to make Esenyurt the capital of culture and arts. After this festival, we will continue with the Peace and Brotherhood Festival, followed by a literature festival, and then a festival to evaluate women’s labor. Esenyurt will be filled with art. The people of Esenyurt will be happy. Seeing them happy makes us happy too. We will carry out this festival for 5 days and conclude our international festival successfully. May the road of Esenyurt be open. Thank you.”