- Home
- News About Us
- Festival Joy in Marmaris
Festival Joy in Marmaris
01 June 2023
FESTIVAL JOY IN MARMARIS! INTERNATIONAL CULTURE & ART FESTIVAL BROUGHT 250 ARTISTS AND ACADEMICIANS TOGETHER WITH MORE THAN 23.000 PEOPLE IN 24 DAYS.
Launched with the motto "We will turn Marmaris into green with art", Marmaris International Culture and Art Festival, the second edition of which ran for 24 days, from June 2 to 26, this year, offered entertainment to the fullest. Held by Marmaris Culture and Arts Association (MAKSAD) in cooperation with the Municipality of Marmaris, the festival refreshed the atmosphere of the Southwest Aegean with its entertaining program with a total of 27 events, 5 of which were ticketed, including concerts, panels, talks, exhibitions and workshops. Held under the theme "From the Power of Soil to the Magic of Art" inspired by the Ancient City of Amos, Marmaris International Culture and Art Festival 2023, brought 250 local and foreign artists and academicians together with more than 23,000 people in 10 different spots in Marmaris. Aiming to bring together world-famous artists with art lovers from Marmaris and to promote our local values to the world, the festival has already started preparations for the next year.
Marmaris International Culture and Arts Festival (MKSF), the second edition of which was held this year by Marmaris Culture and Art Association (MAKSAD) in cooperation with the Municipality of Marmaris, aims to give Marmaris an international, high-quality, indelible and more cultural and artistic identity, making the urban identity of Marmaris more valuable, through thrilling and quality events. Having hosted numerous artists in Marmaris from June 2 to 26, Marmaris International Culture and Art Festival 2023, once again, offered days packed with art and culture to locals and visitors of Marmaris. MKSF23, which is a source of pride and joy for the district, helps locals of Marmaris to heal the wounds caused by the fire and flood disasters occurred recently.
Aiming to bring one of the 14 ancient cities located in Marmaris to the forefront every year, MKSF has brought the Ancient City of Amos to the forefront in its second edition. MKSF23, which was inspired by a city, which achieved cultural development with the artistic demand risen thanks to the rich products they made by employing environmentally-friendly methods that are still employed today, in a geography that was not suitable for agriculture, took place under the theme "From the Power of Soil to the Magic of Art".
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FESTIVAL…
MKSF23 featured a diverse program, including ticketed and free events, such as classical western music, jazz and blues concerts, choir and street concerts, panels, talks, exhibitions and workshops. Having hosted world-famous groups and artists, including Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet, Cihat Askin, Antakya Civilizations Choir, GeoTrain Jazz, Hatay Academy Orchestra, the festival has also presented beautiful examples of polyphonic music by Arp-Cello Duo, La Fortuna Tango Orchestra, Datcazz and Alasgar Abbasov to the tradesmen at the bazaar and locals at the street of Sevgi Yolu.
At the concert held at Marmaris Open Air Theater (Amphitheater), Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet demonstrated that it is possible to perform chamber music successfully and tastefully in the open air. They also performed the five-movement work composed specially for them by the American film composer Danny Elfman.
Members of MAKSAD Festival Orchestra and Hatay Academy Orchestra co-performed at the Turkish Waltzes concert, where Cihat Askin took the stage as the conductor and violin soloist and Yaprak Sayar as the vocal soloist.
Mesmerizing jazz music lovers with her black voice, Selen Beytekin, together with top Turkish jazz performers, including Senova Ulker, Serkan Altinok, Ercument Orkut, Eylem Pelit, Volkan Oktemthe, provided an unforgettable night of jazz at the Amphitheatre.
At the Wednesday Stage event held for the first time in Marmaris with the contributions of Is Sanat at Ataturk Square, thousands of music lovers appeased their longing for Yeni Turku, one of the oldest and favorite Turkish music bands, and refreshed their memories.
The concert given at Amphitheater by Antakya Civilizations Choir, which was invited to the festival as a guest of honor, reminded us of the pain of the earthquakes, which occurred on February 6 and where 7 members of the band lost their lives, and showed us how to heal. Marmaris has also done its share in the solidarity support through an emotionally charged concert, where different Anatolian tunes were performed.
Golden Horn Brass introduced the power and magic of brass wind instruments to art lovers at a wonderful concert they gave at 19 Mayis Genclik Square.
VISUAL ARTS AND TALKS
The exhibition "Frida ile Diyaloglar" (Dialogues with Frida), curated by Atila Gullu, attracted intense attention of visitors throughout the festival. Pinar Baklan and her team reaped the fruits of their hard work for making the ceramic sculpture "Nefes" (Breath), which took 15 days to complete and was made to commemorate the fires that the district has experienced more frequently and destructively in the recent years, after displaying of this sculpture publicly at 19 Mayis Genclik Square, Marmaris.
The talks by Mustafa Alabora, Irmak Zileli, Hakan Akdogan and Sezgin Kaymaz also enlivened Marmaris International Culture and Arts Festival.
This year, the main sponsor of the festival, held by MAKSAD in cooperation with the Municipality of Marmaris and with the significant contributions of the Metropolitan Municipality of Mugla, was Türkiye İs Bankası. South Aegean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (GETOB), ETI Gida San. and Tic.A.S., and NUUP were among the platinum sponsors of MKSF 2023. In addition to Netsel Marmaris Marina, Marmaris Chamber of Commerce, YDA Dalaman Airport, Mey|Diageo, Koral Travel, LORYMA Resort Hotel and Kapurcuk Marmaris which undertook event sponsorship by providing support to different events throughout the festival, there were several personal, corporate, local and national supporters.
For information: maksad.org
ABOUT MAKSAD
Founded in 1999, Marmaris Culture and Art Association (MAKSAD), as a democratic, participatory, productive non-governmental organization, aims to give Marmaris a high-quality, indelible and more cultural and artistic identity through the contributions of all art-loving individuals and institutions acting with a sense of social responsibility. Accordingly, over 100 concerts were given by MAKSAD Chamber Orchestra, which consists of member and guest artists; Marmaris National Ballet Days were held seven times; the National Cahit Koparal Flute Competition was held three times; various national and international classical music and choir concerts were staged, and children and young people were provided with music and ballet training.
Although the resolution to hold Marmaris International Culture and Art Festival was taken by the board of directors, which were assigned in 2019, it was not possible to hold the festival in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, despite all the preparations. The festival, which was held for the first time in June 10-30 June, 2022, brought almost 200 artists together with over 20,000 people in 32 events.
