April 23 is a special day for Turkey. In 1920 Mustafa Kemal Ataturk has announced this day as “Children’s Day” to mark the opening of the Assembly. Ataturk has brought many innovations to Turkey, and he believed that children is a future of a new nation.
Since 1979, this day is being celebrated internationally. The festival is organized by Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT). The festival’s motto is “Love, Friendship and Peace”.
The first celebration of TRT International Children’s festival took place on April 23, 1979 with participation of five countries: USSR, Iraq, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria. Today, children from over 50 countries take part in this festival. From 1979 to 2000, celebrations were performed in Ankara. In the following years, celebrations took place in Turkey’s various major cities such as Izmir, Istanbul and Antalya.
The program approximately covers a period from 16 to 26 April. The children stay at the homes of their Turkish peers in a family atmosphere and can feel the hospitality and warmness of Turkish people. This gives guest children a chance to see Turkish way of living and the relationships between people and in the families.
Festival Week begins with a Festival Parade. During the parade, guests wear their traditional outfits, perform their traditional music and dance on the largest street of the city. In the following days, guest countries perform outdoor shows in large parks.
The culmination of the festival is a gala, which lasts nearly four hours and is broadcast live. All the groups wear their national costumes and present three-minute performances accompanied with their traditional music.
One more distinguished thing about this day in Turkey is that on April 23 several Turkish children replace state officials and high-ranking officers such as the President, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Ministers and provincial governors. These children sign executive orders relating to educational and environmental policies. On this day, children also replace the parliamentarians in the Grand National Assembly and hold a special session to discuss matters concerning children’s issues.
In smaller places, such as Alanya and Mahmutlar, every school prepares for a parade, which takes place on the central streets and squares. Mahmutlar schools will present their festival shows on Saturday market square (apparently, Saturday market will be set up at Tuesday market’s place). The festival will start on Saturday, April 23 at 10:00. There are many foreign students in Mahmutlar’s schools, so, April 23 Children’s Day Festival in Mahmutlar can certainly be regarded as international.
I believe that this Festival not only gives foreign children a chance to see life in Turkey and meet many interesting people, but also creates a foundation for future mutual understanding between nations on political level.
Have a good week and see you at the Festival!
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