The 26th Istanbul Jazz Festival, to be held by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) in July under the sponsorship of Garanti Bank, invites young musicians to participate. The Young Jazz event will be drawing listeners for the 17th time this year in order to create a platform for up-and-coming musicians and bands under 30 to take part in the program.

Over the past 16 years, Young Jazz concerts have allowed over 70 young musicians and groups to participate in the same festival as world-famous jazz artists. In addition, artists get a chance to participate in other festivals after the Istanbul Jazz Festival, having the opportunity to perform at various jazz clubs in Turkey and abroad.

Applications for this year's Young Jazz concerts have started. Young Jazz, which creates a platform for amateur and semi-professional young musicians and groups in Turkey, aims to encourage young musicians interested in jazz and similar music genres and prepare them for the professional music world. Musicians and bands who wish to participate in Young Jazz can submit their applications by filling out the online application form available on the IKSV website. The application form, along with a link consisting of their sample music files, must be submitted by 5 p.m. on May 10 at the latest.

The 10 groups to be determined by the Young Jazz selection committee will be invited to the public evaluation concerts in Salon IKSV on May 26. The winners will be entitled to participate in free Young Jazz concerts at public parks. These names will also appear among festival artists on festival booklets and the official website of the festival.