The 8th Ethnosport Culture Festival opened in Istanbul on Thursday at the Atatürk Airport National Garden, launching a four-day international gathering that places traditional sports, cultural heritage and cross-cultural exchange at the center of a vast public program running through May 24.
Organized by the World Ethnosport Union (WEU), the festival has evolved into a major cultural platform aimed at preserving and revitalizing traditional games and heritage practices that are increasingly overshadowed by modern, commercial sport systems.
This year’s edition reinforces Istanbul’s position as a meeting point between regions and traditions stretching from Central Asia to Europe, East Asia and North Africa.
The opening ceremony brought together senior Turkish officials, including WEU President Bilal Erdoğan, Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Youth and Sports Minister Osman Aşkın Bak and Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, underscoring the state-level backing behind the event and its expanding cultural footprint.
Ceremonial elements opened the festival with a staged performance in front of the Han Tent area, where students performed the Gülbank tradition, followed by a mehter band performance from the Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble.
