Ottawa Turkish Festival

The Ottawa Turkish Festival
takes place in July at Confederation Park.
It's a wonderful festival featuring
Turkish art, folk dance, music and gourmet food.


The rituals of the Whirling Dervishes
create an exquisite ceremony of spirituality.
  This highly structured form,
with gentle turns, becomes increasingly dynamic
as the individual dervishes strive to achieve a state of trans.
 The music that accompanies the whirling
is intended to be mesmerizing.
2009

   
©Photos by Lois Siegel

Youth Folk Dance and Music Ensemble
Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Republic of Turkey

"Hacivat and Karagöz" are the most famous puppets in Turkey.
They are based on a true story about two comedians 
who were executed by the ruling king before the Ottoman times. 

Gözleme (Turkish Pancake)

Agah Ecevit plays the "ney," an instrument that has no reed.
The sound is made entirely by blowing in a very precise way.
It's one of the oldest instruments still in use.
The Ney is played when the Whirling Dervishes take  the stage
and symbolizes "nefes," which means breath in Turkish.

Ottawa Rocks

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