Teknofest fever draws 1.1 million visitors to Türkiye’s Izmir
The closing ceremony of Teknofest, Türkiye's largest space, aviation and technology festival held at Izmir's Çiğli Airport, Oct. 1, 2023. (AA Photo)


Türkiye's premiere technology and aerospace event Teknofest has attracted over 1 million visitors during its five-day run in the Aegean Izmir province, organizers said Sunday.

"1.1 million people were with us for 5 days at #TEKNOFEST Izmir," the event organizer said on X, formerly Twitter.

"Thanks to all our visitors who have been our companions on this journey," it added.

On Sunday, Selçuk Bayraktar, chairperson of festival organizer the Turkish Technology Team (T3) Foundation, said some 2 million young people had competed with their projects at nine Teknofest events since it was held for the first time in 2018.

Bayraktar added that to date over 9 million visitors have also taken part in the festivals.

Teknofest, held for the first time this year at three different sites – kicked off on Wednesday in Izmir and featured competitions, air shows, exhibitions, workshops, wind tunnels, simulations and planetariums.

National acrobatics team performs during Teknofest Izmir, western Türkiye, Sept. 30, 2023. (AA Photo)
Visitors watching the national acrobatics team performance during Teknofest Izmir, western Türkiye, Sept. 30, 2023. (AA Photo)

Coorganized by the T3 Foundation and the Industry and Technology Ministry every year since 2018, the banner festival is held in cooperation with other ministries and dozens of other public institutions, private firms, and universities.

The event was previously held in various Turkish cities in even years and in the Istanbul metropolis in odd years.

To mark the centenary of the Republic of Türkiye, this year the event was held on three occasions in Türkiye's three largest cities, first at Istanbul in May, welcoming a world record 2.2 million visitors, the next in the capital Ankara, attracting nearly 1 million people and finally in Izmir with 1.1 million visitors.