The third edition of Türkiye’s Anatolia Opera and Ballet Festival will bring performances to towns across the country, including Midyat, Divriği, Akhisar and Kadirli, as part of efforts to make the performing arts accessible to wider audiences.
Barış Salcan, director general and artistic director of the General Directorate of State Opera and Ballet under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the 2025-2026 artistic season had been a busy one, with the number of performances increasing.
Launched in 2024, the Anatolia Opera and Ballet Festival aims to bring opera and ballet to cities and towns across Türkiye. Salcan said the directorate had held the festival for a second time and was working to reach audiences throughout Anatolia.
All festival performances are free and open to audiences of all ages, he said, adding that the initiative promotes the arts in Anatolia while helping identify young talent.
Emphasizing efforts to bring performances to places that have had limited access to such events, Salcan said organizers would continue selecting towns that had not previously hosted the festival.
“For the third Anatolia Opera and Ballet Festival, we will choose towns such as Çemişgezek, which we visited last year. We will try to reach towns we have never visited before. God willing, we want to cover the towns just as we have the provinces,” he said.
The third edition is scheduled to begin in November, with performances planned for Midyat in Mardin province, Divriği in Sivas, Akhisar in Manisa and Kadirli in Osmaniye, among other towns.
Assessing students’ talents
The first Anatolia Opera and Ballet Festival was held in Şırnak, where a concert drew about 1,200 audience members, Salcan said.
He noted that the festival had attracted greater-than-expected interest in every province it visited.
“At every stop, we assess students’ talents at our fine arts high schools. We observe them and try to help wherever we can. We also work to introduce people to opera, symphonic music, theater and the arts,” he said.
Salcan added that the directorate hoped to expand these efforts in the coming years and said audiences could look forward to an exciting new artistic season.
