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The fifth Traditional Wedding Feast Festival took place in the Mentese district of Mugla, bringing together traditional cuisine, folklore performances and centuries-old wedding customs in the heart of the city's historic Arasta Bazaar.
Organized by the Mugla Slow Food Community, the festival opened with the launch of the Slow Food Mugla Earth Market, set up at Kursunlu Square and Human Rights Park to showcase local producers and their goods.
Visitors gathered at the Yagcilar Isham venue to enjoy a children's theater performance and a lively "grab competition," drawing crowds of families and curious onlookers throughout the day.
At Sadirvan Square inside the historic Arasta Bazaar, the Mugla Keskek Party gave participants the chance to sample keskek, a traditional wheat and meat porridge that has long been a staple of Turkish wedding celebrations.
Local tradesmen's restaurants served up an array of regional wedding dishes, including yahni, a slow-cooked meat stew, alongside yogurtlama, rice pilaf, and zerde, a fragrant saffron rice dessert.
A recreated groom's house at Yagcilar Isham hosted a traditional pre-wedding shaving ceremony, while across town at the Konakalti Iskender Alper Culture Center, a bride-fetching ritual unfolded according to the customs of the Yoruk nomadic community.
Following a reenacted marriage proposal and a spirited zeybek dance performance, the bride was ceremonially placed atop a horse, a symbolic gesture rooted in the region's rural wedding heritage.
The festival's program was enriched this year by folklore troupes traveling from Ukraine, Rhodes, Izmir, Istanbul and Yatagan, each contributing their own regional dances and costumes to the celebration.
The festivities came to a close with a series of dance performances at Kursunlu Square, followed by a concert by singer Tolga Candar that drew the crowd together for one final celebration.
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