Teknofest welcomes 2.5 million visitors this year

ISTANBUL

Teknofest, Türkiye’s largest technology and space festival, has broken a record as it welcomed more than 2.5 million visitors this year.

Organized by the Industry and Technology Ministry and the T3 Foundation, Teknofest was held at Istanbul Atatürk Airport from April 27 to May 1.

At the closing ceremony on the last day of the event, the winners of several technology competitions bagged their awards.

The new anthem of Teknofest was played for the first time to the visitors.

As part of the Teknofest Earthquake Volunteers Appreciation Program, plaques were presented to the representatives of the media, non-governmental organizations and local governments that carried out post-quake efforts after the disaster in the country’s south.

Teknofest Board of Directors and T3 Foundation Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar, in his speech at the closing ceremony, stated that Teknofest is a festival that breaks records and gives hope to the future.

Reminding that the previous visitor record was 1.7 million in the 2019 edition of the festival, Bayraktar said the number of 2.5 million visitors broke a new record not only in the country, but also among other technology events in the world.

This year, 41 main competitions were held in 102 different categories, while 332,000 teams and more than 1 million competitors participated in these races, which represents another record in terms of number of the participants in the festival.

More than 13 million Turkish Liras ($668,000) of awards and more than 30 million liras ($1.5 million) of material support were given in the competitions.

Visitors bore witness to various cutting-edge technological developments, spent time in simulation areas, and got detailed information about the latest innovations in the festival area.

The prominent projects of the Turkish defense industry, including Bayraktar Kızılelma and Bayraktar Akıncı, were also presented to the visitors.

This year, the Bayraktar TB3 Armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle took its place in the Teknofest event area for the first time.

Special shows of aircraft developed with domestic resources such as Turkish Stars, Solotürk aerobatic teams, Akıncı, Hürkuş and ATAK Helicopter were also staged.

Bayraktar also stated that they decided to hold Teknofest in three big cities this year to honor the 100th anniversary of the foundation of modern Türkiye.

Their preparations for the festivals in the capital Ankara and the western province of İzmir are ongoing.

The event in Ankara will be held at the 11th Airforce Base from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3.