Istanbul 2010 European Culture Capital

In 2010, Istanbul is the European Capital of Culture together with Pecz in Hungary and Ruhr in Germany. This is an important title given by the European Union for a period of one calendar year during which the chosen city is given a chance to show its cultural life and cultural development to the rest of the world.

During 2010, many artists and cultural groups, both local and international, will be visiting Istanbul at various stages for cultural showscases, events, displays, exhibitions, concerts, arts, and so on.

Don't miss this great cultural event of the year.

New terminal at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen airport

Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW), located on the Asian side of Istanbul, opened its new International Terminal complex on 31 October 2009, which will be operation starting from November 9th. It's said that the new terminal will multiply airport’s annual capacity to a 25 million passengers, and more international flights will land and depart from this airport.

The new terminal has a hotel, a big food court area and a big duty free shopping area at international standards.

U2 in Istanbul on September 6th, 2010

Following the success of the 2009 tour, U2 have confirmed that the 360° Tour will continue in 2010.

European fans who missed out this year will have a new opportunity to experience the 360° Tour with stops confirmed in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Austria, Greece, Turkey, France, Brussels, Spain and Portugal.

The concert in Istanbul will be held on 6th of September 2010 at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.

Istanbul Biennial Sep-Nov 2009

The 11th edition of International Istanbul Biennial will be held between 12 September - 8 November 2009 in Istanbul. It will be curated by What, How & for Whom (WHW), a non-profit organization for visual culture and curators’ collective based in Zagreb, Croatia.

The Biennial is one of the most important cultural events of Istanbul which is housed in several venues around the old and new city (such as the Underground Cistern, Hagia Irene and the imperial mint inside the Topkapi Palace, Taksim-Beyoglu etc).

This is an important cultural event, and in 2010 Istanbul will be the Cultural Capital of Europe, a huge cultural event in the continent.

Istanbul Formula 1 race in 2009

In 2009 Istanbul Formula 1 race will be held between June 5-7 at Istanbul Park race circuit. This is one of the most popular motor sport events around the world.

Most of the hotels in Istanbul are already fully booked for this period.

Intercontinental Istanbul Marathon, 26 Oct

30th edition of the Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon will be run on two continents on 26 October 2008, Sunday. It starts from the Asian side of Istanbul, and ends on the European side of the city.

Besides the 42km marathon, there is also a 10km public run with the participation of hundreds of thousands of people. This gives great images on the Bosphorus bridge.

New museum fees

The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has raised the costs of museum tickets in "all" of their museums throughout the country as of 1st of August 2008. Most of the museums tickets are doubled (such as Hagia Sophia, Topkapi palace etc).

Please note that this raise applies to ALL museums of the Ministry, not the private or local government museums, at leats not yet. Most probabily they'll also rates their tickets after the Ministry.

Please also note that all payments for the museum tickets (belonging to the Ministry) has to be made in Turkish Liras. Some big museums (Hagia Sophia, Topkapi, Ephesus etc) accept credit cards too.

Istanbul Formula 1 race, May 9-11

5th leg of 2008 Formula 1 race will be held at Istanbul Park race circuit in Istanbul between May 9th - 11th, 2008. Alonso, Raikonen, Massa and many other pilots will be competing for the checker flag. 110 thousand spectators are expected on stage, and about 3 billion people will be seeing it on TV around the world. Don't miss this great international motor sports event.

Tulip Festival in Istanbul, April 5-13

3rd edition of the International Istanbul Tulip Festival will be held in various parks of Istanbul with millions of tulips poping up around, between April 5th-13th, 2008. Especially the Emirgan Park will be the center of the festivities.

For those who doesn't know, Tulips are originated from Turkey, not from Holland !!

New domestic airline

A new domestic airline company of Turkey, Anadolu Jet, will be flying from Ankara to various cities throughout the country. Anadolu Jet is a sister company of the Turkish Airlines, and it will be a low-cost airline for all domestic flights.