“Brand City Bolu and 6th International Köroğlu Festival”, which was organized by Bolu Municipality as one of the member of Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) and also supported by TDBB, was held in Bolu in the dates of 14 – 16 September 2018.
Within the festival, hundreds artists from 16 different countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, TRNC, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan made their performances in streets of Bolu with their traditional costumes during three days.
The festival which hosted hundreds of guests from Turkey and all over the world started with firing up the festival fire in front of Köroğlu Statue in Democracy Square by Governor of Bolu Aydın Baruş, Mayor of Bolu Alaaddin Yılmaz, Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Ankara Işankul Amanliyev, Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to Ankara İbrahim Cunusov, Counsellor of Macedonian Embassy in Ankara Ramazan Serpetova, Cultural Attache of Uzbekistan Babür Tagaev and several guests. In the same day, an interview themed ‘Turkish Cinema and Köroğlu’ and an exhibition named “4 Seasons Bolu” were held within the framework of the festival.
In the opening speeches, Mayor of Bolu Alaaddin Yılmaz stated that they work very hard to make Bolu a better city and the festival was organized within this context. Yılmaz also said that Köroğlu is a common value of Turkey and the other Turkish countries; therefore the festival was organized internationally. Moreover, Yılmaz stated that “We are also building a park in Bolu that will embrace the whole Turkish World. Additionally, we are doing this by taking the opinions of UNESCO’s Turkish representatives. We hope that Bolu will be a heart of the Turkish World after this park will be completed”.
During the festival which was very rich with cultural, art and sport activities, there were organized Köroğlu Cup amateur sports competitions, international folk dances, theater plays, call-and-response-duets (aşık atışması), concerts and interviews.
Within the concept of activities of “Brand City Bolu and 6th International Köroğlu Festival”, the award ceremony of painting contest themed ‘Köroğlu and Bolu’ which was organized in two categories; for students of Fine Arts High Schools and international artists, and opening of the exhibition were held. The festival ended with Kubat Concert.
