The History and Flavors of Muğla Will Meet in Stratonikeia

Muğla's geographically indicated products and local cuisine will be reintroduced to a wide audience through the 2nd International Muğla Taste Festival. Gürkan Tetik, President of the Muğla Promotion Platform, and the accompanying delegation briefed Muğla Governor İdris Akbıyık about the festival program. The event, which will last three days, will be held in the Turgut and Bozüyük neighborhoods of Yatağan and the Stratonikeia Ancient City. The festival, which will bring together the millennia-old historical texture with the region's unique culinary culture, aims to contribute to Muğla tourism and increase the awareness of local flavors.

The festival program will be held at three different points

The International Muğla Taste Festival, held for the second time, will begin with a workshop on Friday, August 28, in the Turgut Neighborhood of Yatağan. Activities will continue on Saturday, August 29, in the Bozüyük Neighborhood. On the last day of the festival, Sunday, August 30, the center of events will be the Stratonikeia Ancient City. Prominent for its historical buildings and the urban texture reaching from ancient times to the present day, Stratonikeia will host Muğla's local dishes and geographically indicated products. The three-day program aims not only to allow visitors to experience local flavors but also to closely acquaint them with Yatağan's historical and cultural values.

Muğla's geographically indicated products will be promoted

Gürkan Tetik, President of the Muğla Promotion Platform, stated that one of the main aims of the festival is to reach a wider audience with the city's unique geographically indicated products. Within the festival, it is planned to introduce local recipes, traditional production methods, and the local products used in the regional cuisine. The festival highlights that Muğla cuisine is not limited only to seafood from the coastal districts but will also make visible the deep-rooted culinary culture of Yatağan and its surroundings. Events that will allow local producers to promote their products are expected to create new dynamism in terms of gastronomic tourism. Workshops and various activities are aimed at explaining the preparation processes of local flavors to visitors.

History, art, and flavor on the same route in Stratonikeia

Holding the festival finale at the Stratonikeia Ancient City will add a different cultural dimension to the event. The thousands-of-years-old history of the ancient city will meet Muğla's traditional culinary culture and the region's production memory within the same program. Prof. Bilal Söğüt, Head of Excavations at the Stratonikeia and Lagina Ancient Cities, also participated in the visit. Söğüt and the Muğla Promotion Platform delegation informed Governor İdris Akbıyık about the contributions the festival will make to promoting historical heritage. The festival program is expected to enable visitors to explore the ancient city with a different experience. With history, gastronomy, and art coming together on the same route, it is aimed to make Yatağan's tourism potential more visible.

Yatağan's cultural values will be narrated through a book

During the visit, information was also provided about the work titled "In the Trace of History, Art, and Flavor in Yatağan." The study is said to address the district's historical accumulation, traditional lifestyle culture, artistic values, and local cuisine together. Along with the work, Yatağan is aimed to be promoted not only with its ancient cities but also with its production culture and local flavors. The festival and book work are expected to be considered two promotional activities that support each other. Along with the President of the Muğla Promotion Platform Gürkan Tetik, Tolga Tanyel, Ceyda Akman, and Evren Akman were also part of the delegation visiting Governor İdris Akbıyık.

Festival schedule

• Friday, August 28: Workshop in Turgut Neighborhood
• Saturday, August 29: Festival activities in Bozüyük Neighborhood
• Sunday, August 30: Final program at Stratonikeia Ancient City

Reporter: Aziz Şahin