Turkish Theatre Festival Begins in Konya

The press launch meeting for the 17th International Festival of Countries Performing in Turkish was held on the stage of Konya State Theatre.

At the meeting, Özgür Baş, Director of Konya State Theatre, said, “For the 17th time, a Turkish breeze is beginning on the plains of Konya. Between May 24 and June 1, we are excited to bring the 17th ‘A Thousand Breaths One Voice’ International Festival of Countries Performing in Turkish, organized by the State Theatres, to the esteemed art lovers of Konya. This year, we worked very hard to present a rich and full festival once again. Our festival, which was held for the first time in 2008, is now celebrating its 17th anniversary.

Since the first festival, we have hosted a total of 167 theatre groups in our city—27 countries, 51 local groups, and 116 foreign groups. We have reached over 82,000 viewers with 200 plays and 305 performances.

Now 17 years old, our festival significantly contributes to Konya’s rapid progress toward becoming a City of Civilizations. At the same time, it enhances the city’s artistic and cultural value while promoting the art of theatre. We bring together distinguished theatre groups from different countries across three continents and various regions of our country with the universal language of art. We unite a thousand breaths into one voice and open our curtains for you.”

Director Baş continued: “I want to share the program of our 17th ‘A Thousand Breaths One Voice’ International Festival of Countries Performing in Turkish with you as soon as possible.

Our festival will begin on Saturday, May 24, at 12:00 PM with a moment of silence and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Monument area. Following this, with the participation of protocol members, the public, invited theatre groups, and you, our valued members of the press, a procession will take place. This parade, which has become a symbol of our festival, will start from the Monument area and proceed to Mevlana Square. At Mevlana Square, our Governor, Mr. İbrahim Akın, will welcome us, and the festival will officially start.

In the evening, at 7:30 PM, we will be waiting for you in the garden of our theatre building with a magnificent welcoming ceremony prepared for our guests. At 8:00 PM, after the protocol speeches, we will open the curtains with the internationally renowned Dutch SLAPSTICK THEATRE’s musical show titled ‘ŞERZO.’

The festival will feature 5 foreign teams from the Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Georgia performing 7 different plays, along with 13 local groups. A total of 20 selected plays will be presented in 32 performances to the art lovers of Konya. In addition to the major plays, we have also included educational, instructive, and entertaining children’s plays for our future architects — the children.

To bring the festival excitement to every part of our city, we will meet the audience on a total of 6 different stages, including our own theatre stage, Meram Municipality Tantavi Culture and Art Center Stage, Selcuklu Congress Center Anadolu and Konya Auditorium Stages, Ereğli Municipality Culture Center Stage, and Kulu Municipality Culture Center Stage.

And to my dear press colleagues who always support us, I would like to thank you in advance for your shares on behalf of our festival, which is of such great importance to Konya.”