Atlanta Turkish Festival

I have been fascinated by Turkey ever since I read Stephen Kinzer's book Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds in college, and after attending the Atlanta Turkish Festival yesterday, I am even more intrigued by this country.

The Atlanta Turkish Festival is going on this weekend (October 17th-18th) at the Gwinnett Convention Center. The event is organized by the Istanbul Center and is well worth the trek up to Duluth. If you didn't make it to the festival but are interested in Turkish culture, the Istanbul Center has courses and events throughout the year.

I especially enjoyed the entertainment at the event. Over the four hours or so I was there, I had the opportunity to see

the Mehter Band (the oldest military band in Turkey), traditional folk dances from different regions of Turkey, a puppet show of Whirling Dervishes, the Teachers Chorus from Mardin, Turkey, and a Bosnian Folk Dance performance. I was surprised to learn that Turkish and Bosnian culture shared a lot in common, hence the Bosnian presentations.

It's hard to pick a favorite performance since they were all so unique and featured such talented performers, but I was especially struck by the Teachers Chorus performance. The music was so different from traditional American music; most of it featured complicated time signatures and rhythms not commonly heard in most American music. I'll work on putting some videos up soon.

Of course, no festival would be complete without food! Several Atlanta -based Turkish restaurants had booths at the event; I had lamb shish and Turkish tea-- both delicious!

Here's a full slideshow of the event: