By Margaret Sheard …..
We had been advised of a press conference for the Ozankoy Pekmez Festival which was held on Tuesday 22nd August and we went along to the village square where we met the Girne Mayor, Nidai Gűngördű and Ozankoy Mukhtar Mustafa Uzun. We were also pleased to meet up with Ziya Nasifoğlu, who supplies us with information about events and projects of the Girne Municipality, and following is the information sent to us about the press conference.
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The program of the traditional 9th Ozankoy Pekmez Festival organized by the Municipality of Girne was introduced at the press conference.
The festival starts on Friday, 25th August. It is organized by Girne Municipality and Ozanköy Muhtarlığı in order to contribute to the tourist promotion of Ozanköy, to ensure the continuity of carob production and to encourage the consumption of molasses which will be held on the 27th August.
The press conference was held on Tuesday 22nd August at Ozanköy Sports Club Square in order to promote the 9th year of the Ozanköy Pekmez Festival. Girne Mayor Nidai Güngördü, Ozanköy Muhktar Mustafa Uzun, members of the municipal council and representatives from the organization committee of the festival attended the meeting.
The opening ceremony of the festival will take place at the village square on 25th August at 19.00. At the opening, molasses pudding will be served. The festival, will host various cultural and artistic events, with a concert featuring Hikmet Kurtarıcıoğulları on Sunday 27th of August at 21.00 in the village square.
Güngördü: Osman Türkay’s statue will be unveiled.
Girne Mayor Nidai Güngördü, said in his speech at the meeting, Ozanköy was famous in the Mediterranean region for carob and molasses and also drew attention to Osman Turkay, a very important member of the village, who was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature and is well-known for his “space age” poetry. Nidai Güngördü, explained the old name of the village “Kazafani” was changed to “Ozanköy” (Poet Village) which was in recognition of Osman Türkay. This year’s festival will be commemorating Türkay. Güngördü stated that a monument to Osman Turkay, in the form of a bust, will be unveiled this year.
Many villages have the potential for tourism with their natural beauty. Güngördü said reminiscent of what is experienced by foreigners, their aim in organizing the festival with carob molasses is to promote the health benefits of the products they produce to help the economy and promotion of the village.
Uzun: The symbol of the village is harnup (carob) and pekmez (molasses)
Ozanköy Mukhtar Mustafa Uzun said that thanks to the festival, they will continue to produce the harvested carob and molasses products as well as introduce the tourist attractions of the village. Uzun, thanked the Municipality of Girne, for its contribution to the festival.
FESTIVAL PROGRAM
Friday 25th August – The festival will be opened at 19.00. There will be a talk and the unveiling of the Osman Türkay Memorial Project followed by the opening of the stands and the festival. Following the presentation on poet Osman Türkay’s life and poems, Girne Municipality Folk Dance Group Show will be held at 19:45, Hasan Günyüz music concert at 20:00 and Group Gommalar Concert at 21:00.
Saturday 26th August – Filipino Community in North Cyprus Dance Show at 19:00, Cyprus Folk Dances and Art Center show at 19:30, Lutfiye Özipek Music Concert at 20:00 and Nafiz Dölek Concert at 21:00.
Sunday 27th August – Presentation on the Sarak Culture and Art Center Folk Dances show at 19:00, Presentation of Pekmezli Sweets Contest and Pekmezin Healthy Benefits at 19:15, Mustafa Karaoğlan Music Concert at 19:45, Results of Pekmezli Sweets Competition at 20:45 and Hikmet Kurtarıcıoğulları will perform the final concert at 21:00.
