More than 100 festivals are arranged in Turkey every year, and many
can be traced back before their Ottoman roots agriculturally and
historically. Focused around nurturing, plowing, seeding and
harvesting, everyone is welcome to join in and celebrate the cherry
festival, the apricot festival and even the pine nut festival,
which involves tasty indigenous Turkish delicacies. Next year marks
the third annual Tulip Festival in April organized by the mayor’s
office of Istanbul as part of their city beatification project.
This symbol of Turkey, the tulip, is a literal translation of
the Turkish word for gauze a reference to the turbans (tulpend)
that were fashioned in white muslin fabric. The first tulips that
arrived in Europe via Turkey were white and wispy, and when fully
opened, these tulips resembled the turban of a sultan. Tulips were
once a sign of wealth and indulgence, as one rare tulip could cost
the price of a house during the 1700s.
Tulip Festival stage at Taksim Square.
Tulips originate from Turkey and Asia Minor, not Holland, as many
people tend to believe. Along with other bulbous plants like the
narcissus and the daffodil, tulips had grown wild and domesticated
there for centuries. An Austrian merchant and ambassador of the
Sultan of Constantinople first brought tulips back to Vienna in
1559 where they gathered much scholarly attention. Soon these
exotic bulbs from Turkey were imported to Antwerp by enterprising
florists. Ten years later, they reached Holland via Clusius, a
botanist at the University of Leiden. By the 1700s, over 1,300
varieties were recorded in gardening books and were the most sought
after luxury items in Europe.
Starting the second week in April, clients can see 8 million
tulips in full bloom in Istanbul’s parks and gardens, and 1 million
tulip bulbs are handed out to its residents. In Taksim Square there
are concerts, tulip-themed photograph exhibitions, country
exhibition tents where you can learn Japanese flower arranging or
discover Holland’s rich tulip history and a children’s tent for
tulip arts and crafts. Last year, at Topkapi Palace, there was a
presentation of 50 fantastic tulip paintings by Ismail Acar, a
world-renown Turkish artist who was awarded “The Most Successful
Artist of Turkey” in 2004. A Tulip Symposium is held at the Taksim
Ataturk Culture Center where a group of respected scientists from
several countries give speeches on how the tulip has evolved in the
arts, gardens and history.
In an interview with the Turkish Daily News, Istanbul’s mayor,
Kadir Topbas, said: “The Tulip is very important in our culture.
Tulip references exist in textiles, ceramics, literature, poetry
and life itself. We have organized exhibitions, symposiums and
competitions revolving around the lovely tulip.”
You can buy tulip bulbs in shops near the old spice bazaar or
fresh bouquets from street sellers on Taksim Square. When the
tulips are in bloom in spring, the best place to see them is
strolling through the Emirgan Garden while appreciating the legacy
and culture of these magnificently colored “turbans.”
www.tourismturkey.org
