FROM PREVIOUS FESTIVALS
The Chicago Turkish Festival has been organized annually since 2003. You can see images from the previous festivals below.
Festival History - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010
How did the idea of organizing a festival come about?
Back in 2003, the Turkish-American community in Chicago had been planning a cultural activity geared towards promoting the Turkish culture and Turkey for some time. This activity could have been a "Turkish Week" or a "Turkish Parade" like the one held annually in New York City. Unfortunately, the City of Chicago informed us that the city grounds were completely booked for the following 4-5 years for a place to hold such an activity.
Around the same time, we were notified by concerned citizens that an exhibition falsifying historical facts and accusing Turkey of unfounded and fabricated claims was taking place at the heart of downtown Chicago in a building owned by the City of Chicago. The Turkish Consul General of Chicago , Honorable Naci Koru, and the Turkish-American Cultural Alliances' President at the time, Mehmet Celebi, contacted the City of Chicago and expressed their deep concern, objection and regrets about such a biased and fallacious exhibition taking place at a city-owned building, and demanded the immediate removal of this exhibition from the city owned building. Based on the reactions they received, the City Office informed us that the exhibition was planned and the location was reserved well in advance, but if desired they could dedicate a time and place for the Turkish community to plan a cultural activity, positively and accurately promoting Turkey and Turkish history. Following these meetings between the Turkish Consulate General and the City of Chicago, the Daley Plaza was dedicated as the ground to hold the First Annual Chicago Turkish Festival, and has been held there ever since.
Who Organizes the Chicago Turkish Festival?
Our festival is organized by the Turkish-American community of Chicago , along with the support of the Turkish Consulate General of Chicago and The Turkish-American Cultural Alliance (TACA). The Festival Organizing Committee carries on the majority of the responsibilities relating to coordinating and preparing for the festival.
The Festival Organizing Committee is made up of twenty-plus volunteers, a Committee President, and sub-committees in charge of various aspects of the festival. Preparations for the festival can be enjoyable yet very challenging and exhausting due to the fast-paced schedule and demanding responsibilities and work required to create a festival of this magnitude. The Festival Organizing Committee President has an especially strenuous and important job and this position has been successfully held by different volunteers since the festival began: Bora Esenler (2003), Burcu Agar (2004), Yucel Olcer (2005), Hatice Dinc (2006/2009), Sevil Kutay (2007), Hasan Yavas (2008), Kemal Ozer and Ilgaz Ulger (2009).
We thank everyone who has taken part in the Festival Organizing Committee since 2003 as well as the hundreds of volunteers from the Chicago area.
Do the Turkish and American media show interest in the festival?
One of the main reasons of the success of annual Chicago Turkish Festival is the interest shown by US and Turkish media. When the First Chicago Turkish Festival was held in 2003, Fox TV Chicago and WGN TV aired live coverage of the festival during their morning programs, enabling millions of viewers to hear about and become interested in the festival.
You can view the coverage of the annual Chicago Turkish Festival on the Media Coverage page of our website.