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Türkiye Culture Route Festival 2025 has drawn to a close after a months-long programme that spread across 20 cities, bringing together 9,645 cultural events and 50,400 artists. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the nationwide festival turned the country into an extended cultural route and is now expected to reach 26 cities in 2026.
Türkiye Culture Route Festival refers to a countrywide series of linked cultural programmes that run at the same time in different cities, combining concerts, exhibitions, workshops and stage performances under a single umbrella.
According to the ministry, the 2025 edition left a strong mark on the country’s cultural and artistic life. The festival was held simultaneously in 20 cities and ran for 180 days, creating what officials described as an uninterrupted cultural flow across Turkiye.
Throughout this period, audiences in different regions encountered a steady stream of events, as the programme carried on without long pauses and aimed to keep cultural activity visible in daily urban life.
Over the course of the festival, 9,645 events were staged with the participation of 50,400 artists. The programme brought together a wide range of formats, from concerts and exhibitions to workshops and theatre performances.
In addition to these, audiences also followed opera and ballet productions, with hundreds of concerts, thousands of exhibitions and numerous workshops taking shape under the same festival framework. The organisers underlined that the diversity of events helped the festival operate as an international point of attraction rather than a series of separate local programmes.
Each host city used the festival to put its own cultural heritage and local artists on display, while at the same time opening up space to meet artists and groups arriving from different parts of the world. In this way, local traditions and contemporary artistic practices were presented alongside international acts within the same context.
Officials stated that this structure allowed cities not only to showcase their existing assets but also to interact with visiting performers and ensembles, which contributed to the festival’s growing appeal beyond Turkiye’s borders.
The ministry noted that the cultural movement created by the festival gave a clear boost to city economies. As visitors travelled between festival stops, the programme supported local businesses and added momentum to sectors linked to culture and tourism.
This activity, according to the statement, strengthened the tourism potential of participating cities and produced what was described as an important multiplier effect, as spending on culture interacted with other parts of the urban economy.
Looking ahead, the organisers plan to build on this year’s results. Türkiye Culture Route Festival is set to reach 26 cities in 2026, while expanding its scope as it continues its cultural and artistic journey across the country.
The ministry highlighted that the upcoming edition will carry on the same approach of spreading cultural activity over a prolonged period and across multiple urban centres, with the aim of keeping culture firmly present in everyday life in Türkiye.
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