The Türkiye Culture Road festivals are growing as the number of cities included in the project to promote culture, history and arts have reached eight, Tourism and Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists at the launching meeting of the events at CSO Ada Ankara, the minister reiterated that the festival started last year with the Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival and was followed by the Ankara Culture Road festival. Next year, the cities of Izmir, Gaziantep and Adana will also be included.

This year, the Troya Culture Road Festival in western Çanakkale province, the Konya Mystical Music Festival and the Sur Culture Road Festival in Diyarbakır were added to the list.

The Çanakkale Culture Road festival held between Sept.16-25 has been concluded, while the Konya Mystical Music Festival started on Sept. 22 and will continue until Sept. 30.

Türkiye’s Culture Road festivals aim to revive cultural heritage and bring Turkish citizens closer to the country’s culture and history while also aiming to enhance tourism and contribute to the region’s local economy. The festivals include a wide range of activities including concerts, art exhibitions, theaters and workshops that participants are able to discover along a walking route in the specific province.

The minister highlighted that just as the high season in Çanakkale was ending, the festival helped to revive the province and support tradespeople.

"The festival started with the 'Trojans Have Arrived' cortege march on Sept. 16 with the participation of thousands of people, including actors wearing costumes reflecting the Trojan period and the villagers of villages such as Tevfikiye and Çıplak who are the ‘Contemporary Trojans,'" the minister said.

The minister explained that during the festival, five large open-air stages were also set up. "Approximately 25,000 people watched the Troy show of the 'Fire of Anatolia,' which took place on the first day of the festival at the Anatolian Hamidiye Bastions, our biggest stage. More than 35,000 art lovers attended our closing concert."

Ersoy said that apart from arts and historic events, sports events were also held, including a cycling tour as well as diving in the historic Underwater Park of Gallipoli and a marathon.

Meanwhile, artists from many countries, spanning from Spain to Germany and from Uzbekistan to India, bring different beliefs and cultures together with art lovers in Konya thanks to the strength of the music.

In the festival, which is held between Sept. 22 and 30 as part of the 815th anniversary of the birth of Sufi philosopher Mevlana Jalaladdin Rumi, musicians Cengiz Özkan from Türkiye, Jordi Savall from Spain, the El-Hadra Ensemble from Egypt, Teyyub Aslanov from Azerbaijan, the Pera Ensemble from Germany, Nasiba Abdullayeva from Uzbekistan, Dhruv Sangari from India and Hesameddin Seraj from Iran will perform at the Selcuklu Congress Center. At the festival, which has become the meeting point of mystical music from various parts of the world, the people of Konya and those living in the surrounding cities will enjoy various types of music through open-air concerts.

Ankara, Beyoğlu festivals start

The Ankara Culture Road festival and the Beyoğlu Culture Road festival will start on Oct. 1 and end on Oct. 23.

More than 6,000 artists and more than 1,000 events in 51 different venues in Istanbul will meet with art lovers in 88 halls and five open-air stages.

"The Istanbul Cinema Museum will host the most comprehensive exhibition of cult film director Stanley Kubrick to date," the minister announced.

"The selection specially prepared by the Michelin Guide for Istanbul will be announced with a ceremony during the festival in Istanbul, on Oct. 11," the minister added, saying that in this year's festivals, various events in the field of gastronomy will also take place.

The Ankara Culture Road Festival, on the other hand, will take place at 70 different points on a 4.7-kilometer (2.92-mile) route that includes the Ulus district, which has a deep-rooted history, and the surrounding historical and cultural venues. The festival will bring together the people of Ankara and art lovers from the surrounding cities with nearly 5,000 artists in more than 500 events.

The reason why the festivals are organized as "culture roads" is to make the venues and roads permanent, even after the festival ends, the minister elaborated and said that art lovers and tourists would thereby know the destination to head to for cultural and arts activities.

Ersoy said that international participation is also growing, while the festivals are also getting significant attention from the foreign media.

He said Türkiye is one of the leading countries engaging in promotions of the country in 200 countries.

Within the scope of the festival, the 99th anniversary of Ankara's becoming the capital will be celebrated with the Seğmen Regiment, which will be held with the participation of 1,000 seğmens, the traditional protectors of Ankara.