International Children’s Festival

Turkey is celebrating the Children Festival on April 23rd, and Marmaris is no exception! It is an official holiday all over the country. All children and their families come to the stadium in the center of Marmaris or gather in their school yards, where the children participate actively by reading poems, singing and dancing. This festival is unique to Turkey, enjoying the nationwide and worldwide attention and participation. In larger cities of Turkey many international children of school age are visiting Turkish families for a week for a cultural exchange. The 23rd of April National Sovereignty and Children’s Day in Turkey is a unique event. The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, dedicated April 23 to the children of the country to emphasize that they are the future of the new nation. It was on April 23, 1920, during the War of Independence, that the Grand National Assembly met in Ankara and laid down the foundations of a new, independent, secular, and modern republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire. Following the defeat of the Allied invasion forces on September 9, 1922 and the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923, Ataturk started his task of establishing the institutions of the new state. Over the next eight years, Ataturk and his followers adopted sweeping reforms to create a modern Turkey, divorced from her Ottoman past. In unprecedented moves, he dedicated the sovereignty day to the children and entrusted in the hands of the youth the protection of this sovereignty and independence. We publish photos of this unique celebration on the website and social media to show how it all went in Marmaris.