The 8th International Adana Taste Festival, which opened its doors this year with the theme of “Adana with its Roots” under the leadership of Adana Governorship, in cooperation with Adana Metropolitan Municipality, district municipalities, chambers and non-governmental organizations, offered thousands of people a magnificent feast of taste for four days.
The festival includes many special events; In addition to introducing Adana cuisine and street delicacies, the Agriculture Summit provided unforgettable moments for the participants with chef presentations, interviews, cooking competitions, events where Michelin star chefs interpreted Adana delicacies, tasting events and the award-winning festival run.
While all that remained of the festival was the tastes and pleasant times spent, Governor Yavuz Selim Köşger made an evaluation about the festival and said that they were very pleased with the interest they received. Stating that the International Adana Taste Festival made great contributions to the city both economically and in terms of promotion, Governor Köşger said, “During the festival, all 13 thousand beds in the hotels in Adana were filled. Our festival had a very high impact on the occupancy rate of hotels in surrounding cities and districts such as Tarsus and Mersin. “It is possible to understand how much attention the festival attracted just by looking at this data,” he said.
Over 800 thousand visitors
Stating that Adana is now an important part of gastronomy tourism, Governor Köşger said, “More than 800 thousand people visited the festival. This year’s festival; It not only introduced the rich culinary culture, historical and touristic values of our ancient city, but also made a great contribution to the economy of Adana. So much so that we can talk about a total economic value of 3.7 Billion TL, including the expenses made by both our fellow citizens from Adana and our guests from various parts of our country and abroad. Apart from this, we evaluate that the news equivalents in social media, print and visual media are very high. These promotional activities will also contribute greatly to Adana tourism in the coming periods. As I just mentioned, our city is an important brand value in gastronomy tourism with its food culture. We aim to create a destination centered around Adana, Hatay, Gaziantep, to which Kahramanmaraş, Nevşehir, Mersin and Şanlıurfa can also be added. Our regional mayors also have great support in this regard. “I thank them for their support,” he said.
500 thousand skewers of meat and 400 thousand skewers of turnips were consumed
Governor Köşger stated that sales were made at 76 stands in the area in Central Park, and that there were 48 women’s cooperative stands and 13 municipal stands.“Adana is a city that is not just about kebab, but when you say Adana, the first flavors that come to mind are, of course, kebab and turnips, which are indispensable with kebab. “Approximately 500 thousand skewers of meat and 400 thousand skewers of turnip were consumed at our festival this year,” he said.
Governor Köşger emphasized that they will continue to do their best to make this beautiful city, which has such an ancient texture and food and drink culture, better known both in the national and international arenas and said, “8. Our International Adana Taste Festival was a festival that left a mark on our hearts thanks to the hospitality of the people of Adana, the care of our companies and the efforts of those who supported our festival. As a city that has internalized the festival culture, we are proud to have completed this event with pride. I would like to express my gratitude to our municipalities, chambers, professional organizations, non-governmental organizations, sponsors, press members and influencers who made great contributions to the organization of our festival, and most importantly, our citizens from Adana who embraced the festival wholeheartedly. “I believe that this festival, as an Adana brand, will continue its flavor adventure for many years to come,” he said.