Indulge Your Senses at Seattle's TURKFEST 2007

By Ufuk Gokcen



See traditional and contemporary dances. Taste Turkish cuisine and coffee. Touch authentic rugs and fabrics. Smell teas, spices and perfumes. Hear ethnic folk, pop and classical music.

www.turkfest.org

October 20-21 Seattle Center House
October 27 Movies at MOHAI
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- October 20-21: Turkfest Activities at Seattle Center House
- October 27: Movies at MOHAI: Hacivat Karagoz Neden Olduruldu? (Beyaz and Haluk Bilginer) AND Hokkabaz (Cem Yilmaz)
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OCTOBER 20-21, 2007 - TurkFest 2007 Activities at Seattle Center House

Seattle Center House, noon – 6:00 pm

This year, the TurkFest team presents a tantalizing feast for the senses. Vibrantly-colored costumes, a bazaar with Turkish wares, folkloric dancing and music and the smells of exotic spices offer a glimpse into the life and culture of the many ethnic groups that make up Turkish society.

TurkFest 2007 seeks to fulfill its theme to “Indulge Your Senses.” Participants are invited to see, smell, taste, touch and hear Turkey through various performances and activities. The festival weekend includes travel and language classes, children’s crafts, shadow puppetry, documentaries, exhibits, and other enticing ways to experience this Eurasian culture first-hand.

Visitors can commence their ‘sensuous’ celebration at the TurkFest hospitality tent with a free cup of rich, black Turkish coffee, and then have a fortune teller read their future in the coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup. They may also view documentaries and participate in panel discussions about the “Sounds and Sights of Turkish Arts.”

Among the TurkFest performers are the Seattle-based Anadolu Turkish Folk Dancers, who replicate the dances of the ethnic groups throughout Turkey; Turkish singer Derya Baykent; Mavi Dance from Boston, performing contemporary Turkish and Turkic folk dances; and Yeni Ses, performing traditional folk music. Another highlight of this year is a children's choir that will make your hearts warm with as they sing.

TurkFest draws several thousand people to Seattle Center each year, including many of the region’s Meskhetian Turks, refugees who share language and ethnic ties with Turkey.

TurkFest 2007 Program

Detailed information at http://www.turkfest.org/

Are you ready for the 5th Annual Turkish Festival?

By Demet Cabbar
President, ATA-DC

I cannot express how proud I feel as I am writing this article about the Annual Turkish Festival. Yes, you have read it right. We finally do have a "Traditional and Annual" Turkish Festival in Washington, D.C. that everyone looks forward to! Over the past five months as the ATA-DC's festival committee spent endless hours to ensure that every single item on the pages long to do list of the festival is covered and taken care of , I have come to a very exciting realization. In the past five years, not only did the Turkish Festival itself
improve and expand, but also it has also helped the Turkish American community in the Washington, DC area come together and join forces to make this event bigger and better every year. Turkish Festival has been a community building exercise. We have delightfully observed and enjoyed this community support in all stages of the separation process from the fundraising efforts to recruiting food and retail vendors, to signing up artists and performers. Hundreds of people showed up to give their support to the festival in our two fundraisers. The food vendors have lined up one after the other to provide the best of Turkish cuisine to the festival-goers. American performing groups contacted us and requested to take stage at the Festival. Many businesses and individuals showed their generous support by making cash and in-kind contributions to the festival and to its particular activities. To see this kind of support and enthusiasm towards the festival has motivated ATA-DC and the festival committee and allowed them to focus on developing and implementing new ideas as well as improving the existing ones. For instance, this year we invested a lot of time and energy on expanding the Kids Activities Tent in which all kids will be given a passport and be asked to visit all seven regions of Turkey and work on crafts that represent each region. In the end kids who visit certain numbers of regions and complete crafts activities will win a Turkish goodie bag. On stage, in addition to colorful and exciting folk dance and musical performances from Turkey the Caucasus and Central Asia, an American performing group will stage an Act telling the story of the Captain John Smith's - the famous American historical figure - encounter with the Ottomans and the time he spent in Istanbul and his love story with a Tatar girl there. This year at the festival you will also see improved signage and maps of activities. As always the smell of the Turkish coffee and tea will flow in the air and the Turkish Bazaar with more than 25 vendors will offer a taste of the chaotic charm of the Grand Bazaar.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in the previous years the motto of the festival was "come and try us". Now, we feel that the festival has already proven itself over the past four years. We know what we can offer and we are confident. Therefore this year we moved to a new slogan that is "come to the Turkish Festival, of course".

Once again, on behalf of ATA-DC Board of Directors and the Turkish Festival committee, I thank you all for your support of the 5th ANNUAL Turkish Festival. We are looking forward to another very exciting Turkish Day in the heart of Washington, DC. Remember: "Don't miss the Turkish Festival, of course"

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Turkey Welcomes You At Disney's Epcot Center

By Feriha Istar

EPCOT is proud to present 24 countries in it's 12th International Food and Wine Festival once again this year. Including Turkey and the permanent countries ( USA , Mexico , France , Italy , Morocco , Canada , Germany , England , Japan , China , Norway ), Spain , Australia , Greece , Dominican Republic , South Africa , Ireland , India , Argentina , Chile , New Zealand , Peru , and Sweden had a chance to introduce their food and culture to the visitors.

Organized by The Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in Washington, DC in collaboration with the The Ministry of Culture and Tourism- Ankara- Turkey; this colorful gathering will take place in Epcot –Disney World between the dates of September 27 and November 11, 2007. Turkey is one of the main exhibits featuring both Istanbul and Cappadocia have a chance to present the valued guests to experience the country as they freely roam around the Grand Bazaar, purchasing anything from the evil eyes, Turkish exotic lamps, jewelry, handcraft handbags to marble papers and pottery


Every aspect of Turkish Culture is embraced; There is a different daily Turkish Food Demostration five times a day. Turkish folk dance groups will create a vivacious atmosphere through their fascinating performances every weekend. (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) The demonstration of our traditional arts, marbling and pottery making, will further enrich this cultural display. Turkish artists will daily illustrate their beautiful talents.


Aside from the daily food demonstrations Turkish chefs coming from Turkey will prepare feasts for the visitors on September 27 (manti for 1000 people), November 3 (Circassian Chicken for 1000 people), and October 31, Turkish Regional Feast Night, where variation of tastes from different regions within the country will be demonstrated.

Turkey Welcomes You At Disney's Epcot Center - Photos

Turkey Welcomes You At Disney's Epcot Center - Video Collections

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Turkish Festivals

By Zafer Urey

Turkish festivals are increasingly becoming attractive outdoor events for general public to enjoy Turkish hospitality in the heart of many cities in the US and Canada.

Most festival programs include dazzling performances of Turkish folk dance and music groups and broad selections of authentic Turkish food provided by local businesses. Special cultural activities are also organized such as fun and learning activities for kids, Turkish art exhibits, and serving Turkish tea and coffee in tradional settings from extremely diverse Turkish folklore.

I visited Toronto Turkish festival on Aug. 4th, 2007 and was impressed by the level of participation in the event by Torontonians. Toronto Mayor David Miller and Pamela Taylor, a candidate for the upcoming elections for Toronto Center, were also present and spoke to the public during the event. The festival was sponsored by many businesses and took place at Yonge & Dundas square (map).

Toronto Turkish Festival Video


Toronto Turkish Festival Photos

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