The start of fall and the month of October, a time of year referred to as the "Yellow Summer," ("Sarı Yaz" in Turkish) is for many here in Türkiye the best time of the year. Whether traversing along the southern coast or if you are in the heart of Istanbul, as you will see there truly is something of interest for everyone coming up this month.
The first-ever World Acro Cup begins on Sept. 28 in Fethiye’s Babadağ Teleferic and Ölüdeniz, and will feature paragliding pilots from all over the world doing acrobatic moves in the air for spectators watching from Ölüdeniz’s shoreline. Organized by Babadağ Teleferic, which is the jumping-off point for these extreme sports pilots, the World Acro Cup is an extreme sports festival that will have Türkiye and the world’s best paragliding and wingsuit pilots jumping from Babadağ’s Teleferic by day and partying to back-to-back live DJ performances by night. This five-day festival, which will conclude on Sunday, Oct. 2, will have world and Türkiye championships performing solo and synchronous jumps as well as Babadağ’s first Wingsuit BASE jumping event, all of which can be witnessed from Ölüdeniz, where there will also be a screen set up with live commentary on the sidelines.
Ölüdeniz is one of the most spectacular spots for paragliding, whether you are a beginner or a pro as pilots take off from the top of Babadağ and tend to land directly on the sand. Don’t get me wrong though, as this week will be entirely devoted to the pros. However, for spectators, this will be a show of acrobatics in the air and experiencing the extreme sports energy with evening parties starting at 6 p.m. each evening and at 1,200 meters (almost 4,000 feet) elevation. Those planning to participate as spectators can purchase tickets for the event from Biletix and book themselves accommodation in Ölüdeniz or neighboring Kayaköy.
This week, the third Conference of Birds is taking place at BabaKamp, a spectacular retreat center that is also situated on Fethiye’s Babadağ. The Conference of Birds is not necessarily about our winged friends, but more about Simurg, the mythical bird in Persian mythology. In practice, the conference will have music, speakers, meditation and natural food presented by guests from all over the world. Also, of interest to note will be BabaKamp’s upcoming Explore Lycia event, which will take place from Nov. 2 to 6 and will be five days of exploring the Lycian route with BabaKamp serving as a base.
The third edition of the Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival, which is a wonderful venture organized by Türkiye's Culture and Tourism Ministry, begins this week with over 1,000 events taking place throughout the month. The festival will take place in dozens of venues spread out between the Ataturk Cultural Center and Galataport and will include cultural, artistic and historical exhibitions, and culinary, film and musical performances to say the least. To give an example of just some of the venues included on this cultural roadmap, there will be ongoing events hosted at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM), Maksim, Taksim Camii Kültür Merkezi, Emek Sineması, Alkazar Sineması, Atlas Sineması, Mehmet Akif Ersoy Müze Evi (Mısır Apartmanı), Garibaldi, Beyoğlu Belediyesi Sanat Galerisi, Tarık Zafer Tunaya Kültür Merkezi, Galata Mevlevihanesi, Galata Kulesi, Tophane-i Amire and Galataport.
Among just some of the events that stand out for expats include photographic exhibitions of historical Istanbul through the eyes of foreigners. Pera Museum will be hosting an exhibition of the Ottoman artist Osman Hamdi Bey’s works, while the Istanbul Sinema Museum will host a Stanley Kubrick exhibition. The Galata Mevlevihanesi will be holding Ebru painting and Tesbih (small prayer beads) making workshops as well as Sema performances with commentary on its traditions, while the AKM will host a seminar introducing Turkish instruments. There will be theatrical performances such as Carmen as well as free concerts held in Şişhane Square with one showcasing Turkish pop music from the 1990s for example. These are just a handful of over 1,000 scheduled events, the list of which can be found on the website beyoglu.kulturyolufestivalleri.com as well as on Biletix.
The Culture Road Festival that will take place this month is just one of a series of five different Culture Road Festivals held in Türkiye at different times throughout the year. Thus far, there are five cities in Türkiye that now host Culture Road Festivals, which are Konya, Diyarbakır and Çanakkale, in addition to Ankara and Istanbul.
Truly the best time of the year to be in Bodrum, in my humble opinion, the Bodrum Cup is a sailing competition and weeklong event that takes place annually at this time of year – Oct. 15 to 22 – and celebrates this popular vacation destination's legacy with sailing. But, I assure you that you do not need to be a boatowner or a sailor to enjoy this lively and festive event. Not only can participants board racing boats as a guest, but this festival-like sailing event also includes parties for spectators, cooking competitions and concerts by Türkiye's top musical performers.
