This month will see the biggest exhibition in the gaming world come to town as GameX 2019 will draw digital entertainment fans and cosplay fanatics to Istanbul's TÜYAP Fair and Congress Center this Saturday. Meanwhile, there will also be a Lindy Hop festival in Istanbul that is one of the most popular in Europe with dozens of teachers coming from all over the world to give workshops and performances.

Gamers rejoice as GameX comes to town

GameX 2019 is Turkey and the EEMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region's largest International Digital Game and Entertainment Exhibition and will be taking place for the sixth time at the TÜYAP Fair and Congress Center starting this Thursday, Sept. 5 until Sunday, Sept. 8.

In addition to the vast exhibition of new developments in the gaming world at the "Geek Bazaar," there will also be seminars, workshops, tournaments, drone and robot races an indie game area and of course the most highly anticipated aspect of this four-day fair

— the cosplay competitions. There will be a Con Area designated entirely to box and card games and fantasy role-playing and a "B2B" area in which guests will have the chance to network with game developers. Delivering the seminars will be game developers, streamers and YouTubers, e-sports teams and leading figures from the gaming business world and the workshops offered with various aspects of game developing and cosplay costume making.

This fair is open to all from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily with the exception of Sunday, when it closes at 5 p.m. Children under the age of 12 can be accompanied by a guardian. Tickets are available on Biletino and cost TL 20 for one day of entry to the fair. There are also "combine" tickets for the full four-days at TL 70 and a VIP pass is TL 150 and will grant you entry without waiting in line. The TÜYAP Fair and Congress Center is located in Büyükçekmece, which is easily accessible by Metrobüs.

All aboard the 'Orient Lindy Express' swing dance fest

Orient Lindy Express aka OLE is an annual gathering of Lindy Hoppers aka swing dancers that come out from all over the world to take part in workshops and dance parties for a full four-day festival of sorts devoted to the dance that will take place at the historical Grand Pera on İstiklal Avenue. Taking place from Thursday, Sept. 12 until Sunday, Sept. 15 there will be classes, performances, parties, live music dance nights and four different competitions led by over two dozen dance teachers from all over the world. The event kicks off with a welcoming party on Thursday followed by classes throughout the weekend and dance parties lasting until 4 a.m. at night. The guest band headlining the event will be the popular swing music band New York-based "Professor Cunningham and His Old School" and there will also be four different competitions that will be a joy to watch including "open and advanced J&J" and "open and advanced strictly." To take part, there are options to purchase a full pass at 180 euros, which includes four parties and over 14 hours of lessons or there is a "party pass" available at the entrance to each evening's event which costs 80 euros.

DJs and dancing for a good cause

On Saturday, Sept. 7, Uniq Istanbul in Maslak will be the stage for an innovative electronic music and dance festival and fundraiser in which proceeds will go to assist animal charities such as HAYTAP (the animal rights federation) and a retired animals' farm in Bursa.

Meanwhile, the festival organizers will be working with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to ensure all of the trash from the event is collected and recycled.

The following Saturday on Sept. 14, Bonn Istanbul, which is a dance and DJ club in Karaköy will be holding the first of their brand new social responsibility series with "Dance For: the Children," in which all of the proceeds from the evening will be donated to the Turkish Street Children Foundation (Türkiye Sokak Çocukları Vakfı).

Startup training for refugees and women

Over the weekend of Sept. 6-8, StageCo will be holding a "Startup Weekend Refugee" in which young Turkish and Syrian technology entrepreneurs will be given the opportunity to take part in weekend-long workshops to develop and hone their innovative startup ideas, which they will then get the opportunity to pitch to a panel of judges consisting of tech and community leaders. The winning team will be able to take part in the Startup Roadshow Bootcamp and win $15,000, while also be able to present their ideas at SPARK Ignite 2019. Registration is free and the "Startup Weekend" will take place at the DreamBu Incubation Center at Boğaziçi University. StageCo will also be holding a "Startup Weekend" for women, which will take place in İzmir's quaint and beloved Urla region at Urla Coworking from Sept. 27-30.