Food Festivals in Turkey: Herbs, Artichokes, Apricots and GastroAntep

Turkey loves to celebrate its harvests. In spring, Aegean towns throw festivals for wild herbs and artichokes. In summer, the apricot capital fills its streets with music and fruit. And in autumn, Gaziantep hosts a whole week of cooking, tasting and concerts. These food festivals in Turkey are some of the most joyful ways to meet local people, because everyone comes to eat. Here are the ones we recommend most.

Spring Food Festivals in Turkey

The Alaçatı Herb Festival

Every spring, usually in April, the stone town of Alaçatı near Çeşme celebrates the wild greens of the Aegean. The festival fills its narrow streets with stalls of herbs, cheeses and olive oil, and with dishes made from more than a hundred wild plants. Local women, for example, share recipes for greens that grow on the hills after the winter rains. The town’s windmills and stone houses also make a beautiful backdrop. For a day in Alaçatı with a guide, see our Alaçatı day tour.

The Urla Artichoke Festival

A short drive away, the town of Urla celebrates its famous artichokes, usually in late April. There, chefs cook artichokes in olive oil, stuffed and grilled, and the town square fills with cooking shows, competitions and concerts. Then, after the festival, the vineyards of the Urla wine route are only a few minutes away, and so are the ruins of ancient Klazomenai by the harbor.

Summer Food Festivals in Turkey: Malatya Apricots

In the east, Malatya is famous for its dried apricots. So every July, during the harvest, the city holds its Apricot Festival, with concerts, sports and contests for the best fruit. At harvest time, the rooftops and fields around the city turn orange with apricots drying in the sun, and the markets sell every kind of apricot product, from jam to chocolate-covered fruit.

Autumn Food Festivals in Turkey: GastroAntep

Gaziantep, which UNESCO named a Creative City of Gastronomy, holds GastroAntep, its international gastronomy festival, in September. For about a week, therefore, chefs from Turkey and abroad cook with local ingredients, and the old town hosts tastings, talks and concerts. It is the perfect time to eat your way through the city of baklava, kebab and pistachios.

More Food Festivals in Turkey

Many other towns also celebrate a local crop with their own festival: cherries, figs, olives, grapes or hazelnuts. In Istanbul, the Istanbul Coffee Festival brings roasters, baristas and tastings together, usually in the autumn. In the south, Adana holds its International Adana Taste Festival over three days in October in Merkez Park, with local recipes and produce from across the province, not only kebab. Because dates change every year, we check the program for you before you plan your trip.

Plan Food Festivals in Turkey With Us

We plan food festivals in Turkey into our guests’ routes whenever the dates fit. Join our food tours or cooking classes, and read our guides to Turkish breakfast and baklava. We follow food events across Türkiye and book what you pick. For a whole trip around the table, see our Taste of Turkey food tour in 10 days, from Istanbul to Cappadocia.