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:

Steve McCurry AND Upcoming Events

I'm heading off to work in a few minutes, but just wanted to put up a quick post about a few interesting things...

First, I had the amazing opportunity to meet and speak with renowned photojournalist Steve McCurry last night-- even if you do not recognize the name, you would probably recognize many of his iconic images from National Geographic, including one of an Afghan Girl with deep green eyes. McCurry has worked as a photojournalist around the world from Afghanistan to India to Myanmar, and has incredible talent for capturing the human spirit through his portraits.

McCurry's work is on display at Besharat Gallery in Castleberry Hill through November 1. Thanks to friends Katherine and Terry for knowing about the art opening and inviting me along! Terry will likely be posting pictures from the evening on his blog, Architecture Tourist, so definitely check them out! Thanks to Katherine, too, for prodding me to go up and speak to Mr.McCurry-- I was a little star-struck and first and needed a little encouragement to fight my way through the cluster of adoring fans to actually speak to him.

A few other international events going on this weekend:

--The Atlanta Turkish Festival will be at the Gwinnett Convention Center on Saturday, Oct 17th and Sunday, October 18th.

--For any francophones or aspiring francophones, come to La Madeleine in Dunwoody for the monthly French conversation breakfast on Saturday morning beginning at 10am!

--The Cumming Greek Festival in Forsyth County on Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 17th-18th).

--Last but not least, the Latin American Film Festival is going on at the High Museum through October 31.

I'll be at the Turkish Festival and French conversation breakfast and will post photos next week!