Southern town Side prepares for arts and culture festival

ANTALYA - Anatolia News Agency

Austrian Schloss Schönbrunn Orchestra will perform at the opening of the event.

Side Mayor Abdulkadir Uçar is hedging his bets that the 12th International Side Culture and Arts Festival will help further introduce the ancient Greek town in Turkey’s Antalya province to tourists as more than a place for historical sightseeing and quick dips in the Mediterranean.

“The festival’s closing concert will be given by the Side Festival Orchestra. It will be a first for both the Side Festival and Turkey. The orchestra consists of domestic and foreign performers.” Uçar said.

This year’s festival, which is listed in the European Festival Association, will be staged at the Side Antique Theater and Apollo’s Temple between Aug. 25 and Sept. 30.

The Festival Art Director Remzi Buharalı announced that the first concert of the festival would be given by the Schloss Schönbrunn Orchestra, one of the most successful bands of Vienna Chamber Music, at the Side Antique Theater on Aug. 25.

Side Orchesta on stage
The Side Festival Orchestra will perform their first concert onstage Sept. 30. Other performances scheduled within the festival program include Massimo Mercelli and Luis Bacalov, the Golden Trombon Orchestra, the Türksoy Chamber Orchestra under the conduction of Anvar Akbarov, Antalya State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antonio Pirolli, ENBE Orchestra, Peking Symphony Orchestra, Aegean University Folklore Community, Anatolian University Symphony Orchestra conducted by Cemi Can Deliorman, Daghistan Folklore Community Lezginka and Ayhan Sicimoğlu and Latin All Stars.