Welcome to our 26th International İstanbul Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival
Love for One Another, Peace for All!
This year, with the call rising from our beloved Büyükçekmece, “Love for one another, peace for all!” we proudly celebrate the 26th edition of our International Istanbul Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival.
For more than a quarter of a century, we have felt the excitement of bringing together different colors, voices, and hearts from all over the world, opening the door to new friendships, accumulating love, and uniting culture with art.
A Journey Dedicated to Peace in the Footsteps of Atatürk
The principle of “Peace at home, peace in the world” set forth by the founder of our country, the Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, has been a steadfast way of life guiding every step of our festival. As a requirement of global brotherhood, we continue to carry our rich cultural heritage to the international stage by blending it with art and local values. As the descendants of Mevlana and Yunus Emre, our greatest wish is to spread love, to share it, and to establish warm and sincere friendships.
We Are Building a Bridge to Global Brotherhood at the Mimar Sinan Bridge, the Symbol of Büyükçekmece
We truly believe that festivals are powerful bridges that bring communities together. They are meeting points that help build trust among people and enable different cultures to get to know each other. Festivals offer the opportunity to explore local beauty while allowing us to create memories filled with collective experiences.
Just like the Mimar Sinan Bridge, the timeless symbol of Büyükçekmece that has endured through the ages and connects history to the present day. As Büyükçekmece, we aim to be a bridge that connects the world and brings together people from different backgrounds through art and culture. Because we know that culture and art are the most powerful tools not only for individual development but also for social peace.
To all of you who walk this path with us in our festival, which has been honored ten times as the “Best Festival in the World” in Category A by CIOFF and FIDAF, organizations affiliated with UNESCO; to all the countries that introduced their culture and shared their heritage with us; to our stakeholders, who have played a key role in our many successes; to all public institutions and organizations, our neighborhood headmen, CIOFF, FIDAF, FIAP, and ANELSANDER; to my dear Büyükçekmece family, to civil society organizations and their representatives; to the national and international jury members who follow our festival closely, and to the young people who work actively during the festival. I extend my heartfelt thanks.
In this 26th edition of our festival, we are once again honored to host people from around the world in Büyükçekmece through the universal language of culture and art.
Stay with art, stay with love.