The Day of youth and sport in Turkey

One of the bright and merry holidays that is very popular in Turkey...

The favourite holiday

One of the national Turkish holidays – the Day of youth and sport, that is marked on May, 19, is extremely loved by people and always celebrated in a big way and in the joy of everyone.

In Turkey they know how to mark holidays perfectly, and when the Day of youth and sport comes this fact is proved as good as possible. The guests of the country can find out that the holiday is coming by the flags and the portraits of Kemal Ataturk, which decorate the streets and the houses of Turkish cities on the eve of the holiday. And in big cities there are even flower-beds with symbolic pictures of flowers arranged for this holiday. The majority of educational institutions prepare cultural program to give pleasure to the compatriots on the occasion of the solemn day. It includes such distractive events like different kinds of performances, contests of culinary and designers’ art, and also, different conferences and seminars concerning the most relevant problems of youth.

Celebration in Istanbul

Istanbul meets the Day of youth and sport solemnly and brightly. The holiday begins with the official ceremony of the imposition of garlands to the monument of Republic. Then the impressive parade and sports contests follow. And in the evening the city enjoys the concert, held at Taksim square and in the central park. During the concert the audience is distracted by the stars of the national stage and by invited artists.

The holiday’s history

Initially the date that the celebration is confined to had nothing common with it. This day – May, 19, 1919 Kemal Ataturk declared the mobilization against the foreign intervention in Samsun port. All these happened during the war with Greece, and as the national movement for independence basically included young people, the future of the inceptive republic was actually given to the youth, and this became the basis of the holiday.