Adana is hosting the final stop of Türkiye's Culture Route Festival this year, bringing nine days of concerts, exhibitions, theater performances, traditional arts and culinary events to the southern city.
Organized by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the festival officially opened at the Adana Museum Complex, with government officials, young people with special needs, families of fallen soldiers, chefs and prominent figures from the city's culinary scene attending the ceremony.
Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Gökhan Yazgı said the festival would showcase Adana's distinctive cuisine and longstanding culinary traditions to a wider audience while boosting tourism and supporting local businesses.
"We attach great importance to ensuring that the activity generated by our festival in the city also contributes to the local economy and tourism," Yazgı said. "Visitors coming from outside the city staying in our hotels and discovering our restaurants and local businesses, are an important part of the festival's interaction with urban life."
Yazgı said Adana was hosting the festival for the third time, with this year's program featuring 252 events at 23 locations across 12 venues over nine days.
Merkez Park will serve as the festival's main gathering point, hosting concerts by prominent musicians throughout the event. The park will also feature a Children's Village, where younger visitors can take part in games and workshops.
The Adana Museum Complex will host exhibitions, while the wider program includes theater performances, talks, children's plays, workshops, photography exhibitions and film events.
Yazgı said organizers wanted the festival to reach beyond designated performance venues and bring cultural activities into different parts of the city.
"We want the festival atmosphere to extend beyond the stages and spread across the entire city," he said.
The festival will also highlight Adana's culinary heritage, with more than 90 food venues offering visitors a selection of regional dishes and local specialties.
Adana Gov. Mustafa Yavuz said the city had established itself as a year-round destination for cultural events, with festivals bringing residents together and strengthening its cultural identity.
He pointed to the theater festival held in March, the Orange Blossom Carnival in April and the 33rd Golden Boll Film Festival, alongside the Adana Taste Festival held Oct. 9-11.
The city also hosts smaller events throughout the year, including coffee, chocolate and dessert festivals, Yavuz said.
"Adana has truly become a city of festivals throughout all 12 months of the year," he said. "Festivals suit this city because the people of Adana love life, excitement, coming together and sharing happiness."
Following the opening ceremony, attendees visited exhibitions organized as part of the festival, including the Sacred Relics of the Ottoman Empire exhibition.
Murat Ören, a history teacher who visited the exhibition, praised its displays of Islamic art, particularly depictions of the Kaaba, calligraphy and intricate woodwork.
He described the exhibition as an impressive presentation of Islamic heritage and said Adana's cultural significance extended well beyond its reputation for food.
"Adana is a city of art. Çukurova is a source of artists, with musicians, filmmakers, writers and poets emerging from this region," Ören said.
He also expressed a desire to see more students visiting the exhibitions, adding that he regularly brought his own students to cultural events.
Ören said Adana's history deserved greater attention, noting that the city had been home to numerous civilizations and possessed a rich museum collection.
"Alongside Adana's gastronomic identity, I believe the city's history should also be given greater prominence," he said.
The Türkiye Culture Route Festival's Adana program will continue through Nov. 15.
