Girne Municipality announce the 12th Cypriot Silkworm Festival in Bellapais on 6th and 7th May
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The 12th Cypriot Silkworm Festival will take place in Bellapais Old School park for 2 days
The 12th Cypriot Silkworm Festival, which will be organized in cooperation with Girne Municipality, Green Peace Movement and Beylerbeyi (Bellapais) Muhtarlığı, will be held between 6th and 7th May. The 2-day festival in the Bellapais Old School park will include concerts with various music performances, dance and folklore performances. The official opening event of the festival will be held at 15:00pm on Saturday. The stands will be opened at 11:00am and the municipality will be arranging local transfers at the event.
Güngördü: Festival reflects the cult of Cyprus
A press conference was held today 2nd May at the Bellapais Monastery garden. Speaking at the press conference, Girne Mayor, Nidai Güngördü noted that silk and cocoon handicrafts, have an important place in Cypriot culture but are forgotten, and are beginning to find life again with the festival. Talking about the festival program, Güngördü stated that the festival will include sale of silk cocoons and other handcrafted products that reflect the Turkish Cypriot culture, together with food and beverage stands.
Tatlısu: Festival introducing the village
Beylerbeyi Muhtarı Ersel Tatlısu also stated that the festival, which Muhtarlığın initiated 12 years ago in cooperation with the Green Peace Movement, has brought the festival to a wider context with the support of Girne Municipality for the last 8 years and voiced the contribution to the promotion of the village with the festival.
Sahir: First in the world
Doğan Sahir, the President of the Green Peace Movement, said that the survival of silkworm breeding and cocoon works, is an important part of the country’s culture, contributing to the re-stating of the Turkish Cypriot’s natural and cultural values. Stating that the silkworm cocoon work was a hand craft developed in Cyprus for the first time in the world, Sahir noted that this forgotten art is being refreshed and is finding life again.
FESTIVAL PROGRAM
Saturday, May 6th
Music Broadcast at 11:00, Phoenix Line Dance Club Dance Show at 13:00, The Hot Club of Cyprus Gipsy Swing and French Spirit Music at 14:00, 15:00 Official Opening and Speeches, 15:30 ‘ Da Girne Municipality Folk Dance Show (Büyükler Group), 15: 45 Lefkosa Folklore Association Folk Dance Show 16:00 Girne Municipality Folk Dance Show (Küçükler Group) 16:15 Alpmut-Kezzap concert, 17:30 Friends Line Dance Show, 18:00 Orak Cultural Arts and Education Center Folk Dance Show, 18:15 Group Ganciler Concert and Music Broadcast from 20:00 to 22:00pm.
Sunday, May 7th
Music broadcast at 11:00 and entertainment starts with 14.00 Dikmen Youth Center Association Folk Dance Show, 14.30 Digem Folkloric Cyprus Music Concert, 16:00 Alayköy Foklör Derneği, 16:30 Folk Dance Show, Back – Street 4 concert, 18:00 International Final University Dance Ensemble African Dance, 18:30 Middle East Technical University Northern Cyprus Campus Division 6 Music Group concert, 20.00 – Orge Volkan concert.
I wish I could be there! This is very interesting! As an artist, I use silk to make ‘eco prints’, which means boiling/steaming for several hours, organic matter (leaves, flowers) in tightly bound bundles. The colour from the leaves etc transfers to the silk. The silk I’m using at the moment was brought back to me from Bursa, Turkey, by my husband, who was born there and was visiting on business. Bursa has a famous ancient silk market (Koza Han). As a child, my husband used to ‘beg’ for cocoons (kosalar) from the market and would feed the emerging larvae with mulberry leaves until they developed into butterflies and flew away. My current work thus brings my ‘Englishness’ and my husband’s ‘Turkishness’ together through the Turkish silk tradition.