The Foreign Residents in the TRNC – TFR
9th Tepebașı Tulip Festival
by Ralph Kratzer
On Sunday, 17th March 2013, I visited the 9th Tepebașı Tulip Festival together with my girlfriend Heidi.
Actually we wanted to watch the performance of the Phoenix Line Dancers at the festival, because Heidi is a member of the club, but unfortunately we had been half an hour too late (as always???)…. so we missed the display of their dancing.
But in the end this mishap wasn´t too sad. The weather was fine and the festival had a lot to offer of other impressions.
There were a lot of stalls with local crafts and traditional food and at midday the event was very well attended.
The stage installed in the village square was occupied by a large group of little children dancing to the latest hits, of course the inevitable “Gangnam Style” was presented as well.
We strolled around the grounds, bought delicious homemade olive bread and Hellim cheese and had a late lunch at one of the numerous snack stands.
The Tepebașı Tulip Festival is an annual event which first started in 2005 and usually lasts two days.
In addition to the selling of local specialities there are a lot of performances of traditional folk dancing and singing.
The area between the village of Tepebașı and the Maronite village of Koruçam is well known for its tulip fields, which should have started to bloom by now. So it’s worth visiting even without the festival.
