Gaziantep in southeastern Türkiye has just become the focal point of the entire country by transforming the metropolis into a festival hub. At stake: GastroANTEP combined with being part of this year’s Culture Route Festival.

The festival is a joint venture between the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality and the National Ministry of Culture and Tourism, with the latter 2024 eight months offering stops in 16 different cities on that very nationwide cultural route. Yet, being live on location, one thing is sure: GastroANTEP stands out from the events calendar crowd, so to speak. Above all else, the people of Gaziantep ensured that all guests, visitors and the local population would share in the excitement. We shall return to that point, but as the wider region was struck by devastating twin earthquakes early in 2023, one immediately felt the motivation, the resilience, the spirit behind the festival in the sense of "Gaziantep region is back and as a matter of fact back on top."

Food equals culture

Every perfect large-scale public event needs an opener. Only here in Gaziantep we had not just one but three: a cortege with many local associations, music, bands and more, attended and joined by a huge crowd. "Colourful" would be an understatement. Then, the indoor ceremony will be held in a packed conference hall. First with a beautiful song performance by children and second followed by interventions by dignitaries. For the purpose of penning this article, let us mention two from a much more extended list of speakers.

On the one hand and in her opening speech, Gaziantep Metropolitan Mayor Fatma Şahin referred to her city as the flavor capital of the world and that she wishes that the festival would be a showpiece for brotherhood, love and affection; the world needs healing. Culture and art heal. She continued by saying that soon, her city would be bright and resilient. The mayor said: "We will make this a region from nature tourism to faith tourism, from congress tourism to health tourism. We are competing with Italians. We have more, not less. We compete with San Sebastian in Spain, Rome and Naples in Italy. We will combine our strengths in the region. We will be united, we will be alive, we will turn the spirit of Gaziantep into the spirit of the world."

On the other hand, Gaziantep Governor Kemal Çeber gave information about Gaziantep's features other than gastronomy and said: "When I came to Gaziantep a year ago, I thought I knew the city. But when I arrived, I realized that I only knew the tip of the iceberg. It is an extraordinary city with very special lands, an exceptional culture, and history. This city has something to say, no matter what the subject is. Gastronomy has come to the forefront, but this city has something to say on every subject."

Then, the huge food courts were opened, actually a number of long and winding pathways featuring a wide array of hot food or cold snacks, not just from Gaziantep city but the entire region, think Hatay. An integral part of the festival, evenings turned out to be extremely busy as after work or university, the city’s population flocked to that particular park area.

Nine categories were chosen by the organizers to demonstrate that Gaziantep knows how to manage such large-scale public events and for sure, they did. As they were and in order of no particular preference as all are vital to and for the success of GastroANTEP and Culture Route 2024: exhibitions, gastronomy, concerts, events, interviews, theater, workshops, opera and ballet, and children’s events.

Variety in foodstuffs

Gaziantep is world-famous for its baklava and most definitely, its pistachio nuts. Then let us, of course, not forget the delicious Antep kebap and lahmacun. It is a business card and for the whole region. A meal would often begin with a salad, including tomatoes, sliced green peppers and cucumbers. A lahmacun (a kind of Turkish thin bread topped with vegetables and meat) was accompanied by a drink of your choice, including refreshing ayran, the famous chilled yogurt beverage. Mains come in the form of lamb or meat, diced or on skewers, or minced meat in tasty eggplant. Another specialty is Yuvalama soup, a favorite when entertaining guests in one’s own home, too; a kind of "welcome soup" comprised of yogurt, chickpeas and tender pieces of meat, although the focus is on the combination of all ingredients and not on the quantity of the meat as this arrives per main course anyways.

But as one might imagine, local chefs have since long embarked on what we best describe as "Antep Nouvelle Cuisine" with world-famous colleagues arriving in town for a live show cooking to lend support and, yes, of course, have fun while standing in front of the oven or behind the grill. Here, international expertise mixed with local knowledge and fabulous taster menus were created and watched by a fascinated crowd.

Needless to say, world-class restaurants are to be found all over town, often with live music to accompany one's culinary delights.

Many further cultural dimensions besides the overarching theme of gastronomy also came to the forefront. Think the opening of a brand-new Soap and Molasses Museum (or as it is in an original building, a "Soap and Molasses Inn") where visitors will embark on a journey through the intricacies of soap and molasses making and will have the opportunity to learn about the production stages in detail.

Then there is Gaziantep’s exemplary social services aspect; think a Baby Library with over 117,000 parents and kids combined visiting since its opening, or a prosthetic rehabilitation center treating up until today and starting after the above-mentioned twin earthquakes, over 630 patients, mostly free of charge. Consider a barrier-free center for citizens, including children with disabilities, plus an Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool – your friendly commentator has never visited a similar institution anywhere else in Europe. Last but not least, the fork-to-farm – an approach that cuts out the middlemen, allowing farmers to sell directly to the end-user in locale-erected street markets. All of these points will form part of another article about Gaziantep, focussing on city management.