Kadıköy’s parks host concerts

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

Organized by the Kadıköy Municipality, Fenerbahçe, Özgürlük and Kalamış Parks will host nostalgia concerts. Bands will sing songs by Seyyal Taner (below) and Neşe Karaböcek (above). Hürriyet photo

Istanbul’s Kadıköy is holding arts and culture activities outdoor at parks with the coming of summer. According to the written statement made by the municipality, parks in Kadıköy such as Özgürlük, Fenerbahçe, Kalamış and Koşuyolu will be hosting jazz concerts, theater events, classical Turkish music and much more.

The aim is to attract the public to parks. The concerts started with a jazz concert. The jazz concerts are still continuing and ready to host many world-renowned Turkish jazz artists.

The jazz concerts started with jazz musician and pianist Nilüfer Verdi over the weekend. Verdi is most well known in the United States and Canada. Jazz artists Dilek Sert Erdoğan and also the Genco Arı Quartet will take the stage July 13 at Özgürlük Park.

Having carried his fame from the theater to jazz music, Taylan Erler will be on stage with the Istanbul Jazz Band on July 20 at Kalamış Park, Aug. 3 at Fenerbahçe Park and Aug. 10 at Özgürlük Park.

The final jazz concert will be at Kalamış Park. The Ayşe Tütüncü Quartet will take the stage on Aug. 18. In each neighborhood there will be amateur concerts as part of the Volunteers’ Classical Turkish Music. There will be 13 different concerts. The classical Turkish music concerts will start on July 5 at Fenerbahçe Park and will continue until Aug. 4.

Nostalgia concerts

Kadıköy neighborhoods will also see 15-person string instrument concerts on weekends. These concerts will take place at Fenerbahçe, Özgürlük and Kalamış Parks. The Kadıköy Municipality will be supporting the July 12, 19 and 26 Özgürlük Park nostalgia concerts.

The aim is to revive the 1980s family music halls. Concert-goers will have the chance to hear nostalgic music such as Neşe Karaböcek, Seyyal Taner, Selçuk Ural, Ersan Erdura, Nur Yoldaş, Bilgen Bengü and Semiha Yankı. Bands will be playing songs of unforgettable Turkish pop stars.

Parks of Kadıköy

The parks of Kadıköy are one of the most important parts of the neighborhood and the Anatolian side.

For many years, Kadıköy parks have hosted many important events. While Kalamış Park mostly hosted concerts, cafes and bars, some parts of the park are also open for those who would like to swim.

The area is also very significant in terms of its history, as Kadıköy is an older settlement than most of those on the Asian side of the city of Istanbul. Relics dating to 5500-3500 B.C. have been found at the Fikirtepe Mound, and articles of stone, bone, ceramic, jewelry and bronze show that there has been a continuous settlement since prehistoric times. A port settlement dating from the Phoenicians has also been discovered. Chalcedon was the first settlement which the Greeks from Megara established on the Bosphorus, in 685 B.C., a few years before they established Byzantium on the other side of the strait in 667 B.C.