Turkey’s northwestern Bursa province, one of the former capital cities of the Ottoman Empire, has been chosen as the 2022 Culture Capital of the Turkic World. Events to be held as part of this decision have started with the celebrations of the spring festival Nevruz in the city.

The ancient festival of Nevruz that celebrates the arrival of spring is being observed extensively this year in Turkey after a two-year wait due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the celebrations in Bursa, a celebration committee laid a wreath at the Atatürk monument in the Heykel square of the city. Governor Yakup Canbolat was presented with a semeni (a bowl in which barley and wheat are germinated to ensure a fertile year in agriculture) and a cortege took place in the Uzun Çarşı (Long Bazaar), Kapalı Çarşı (Covered Bazaar), Cumhuriyet Street and July 15 Democracy Square of the city.

Moreover, people forged irons and jumped over bonfires. The festive celebrations ended with a folk dance show.