The Alaçatı Herb Festival – (late March/April – Alaçatı Town Centre)
The spring festival started in 2010 and, in 2023, was held for its 12th time between 27-30 April (later than usual due to the Ramadan holidays). The Çeşme Municipality organises it to celebrate the unique agriculture, cuisine, culture and crafts of the Aegean region.
For the period of the festival, many of the central streets of Alaçatı are filled with stands selling herb produce, jams & preserves, cooked foods, and arts and crafts. With the narrow streets and attendance estimated at over 1 million, the area can become somewhat crowded.
Features of the festival include “the best herb dish” judged by a famous Turkish chef, cooking workshops, nutrition seminars, a festival cortege along the streets of Alaçatı, choir concerts at Alacati Amfi Tiyatro, folk, jazz, pop and rock concerts, late-night DJs, dancers and a variety of other entertainment. Much of the 2023 festival was related to and dedicated to the victims of the earthquake in the Hatay province.
The Çeşme Open Chess Tournament – (May/June – Çeşme)
9th Çeşme Open Chess Tournament Website – 19-25 June 2023
The chess competition is held at the Ayios Haralambos Church in the centre of Çeşme, and the Sıdıka Kelami Ertan Secondary School Indoor Sports Hall is an event consisting of nine rounds lasting seven days using the accelerated Swiss system. The Turkish Chess Federation organises the competition in coordination with the Çeşme Municipality. The competition is open to all nationalities, all entries over the age of seven years old and all standards of player and entry are split into Elo (chess rating system) categories (A) +2,000, (B) +1,600, (C) less than 1,600, or no Elo rating. The total prize money in 2023 was TL300,000 (€11,000), with the winner receiving TL50,000 (€1,750).
The 2023 competition attracted 516 participants, with overseas Grandmasters from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Norway, Spain, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine, as well as International Masters and FIDE Masters from India, Italy, Jordan, the Netherlands, and the USA. The winners were (1st) Vugar Rasulov – Azerbaijan, (2nd) Ulvi Sadikhov – Azerbaijan, and (3rd) Eray Kilic – Turkey.
The competition is typically held in late spring, usually in May or June, each year, although in 2017, it was held in September, and in 2020 and 2021, it was cancelled due to Covid restrictions.
Saloman Çeşme Half Marathon – (June – Çeşme and Alaçatı to Cesme)
2023 Saloman Çeşme Half Marathon – 3 June 2023
The Saloman Çeşme races consist of two races: a half marathon (24.0975 km) and a 10K (10,000m) race. The half marathon starts in front of the Çeşme Courthouse at 08:00 passes through Ilıca, and Alaçatı, returning back to finish in Çeşme. The 10K race is at 09:00, starting at Alaçatı Town Hall (Belediyesi) and finishing in Çeşme.
On the day before the race is an expo and registration desks at Cumhuriyet Meydanı in Çeşme town centre, which continues on the morning of race day together with warm-up activities. The race is open to everyone over 18 with an approved medical certificate and 16-18 with parents permission. Entry into the race in 2023 was TL 300 (€10) for the half marathon and TL 200 (€7) for the 10K.
The 2023 half marathon race winner was Üzeyir Söylemez (Turkey) in a time of 1 hour, 12 minutes 13.03 seconds. The 10K race winner was Mestan Turhan (Turkey) in a time of 33 minutes 23.67 seconds.
Electronica Festival Çeşme – (July – Altınkum Beach, Çiftlikköy)
Electronica Festival Turkey hosts two electronic festivals each year, one in the Zorlu Centre in Istanbul and the other on Altınkum Beach in Çeşme.
The Raymarine Tuna Masters Alaçatı – (September – Alaçatı Marina)
2023 Tuna Masters Website – 14-17 September 2023 – see also LikeCesme “Fishing”
The Raymarine Tuna Masters Alaçatı is a competition that has been hosted by Alaçatı Marina seventeen times up to 2023. The competition takes place in mid-September (before 2020 in early October) and is over four days (Thursday-Sunday), with two days of fishing from 08:00-14:00/16:30. The largest single catch, typically of Bluefin Tuna, is often in excess of 100kg (2018 was 158.0kg and 2022 was 154.4kg).
Only (non-wire) line fishing is permitted, and fish species include Bluefin Tuna, Albacore Tuna, Skipjack Tuna, Swordfish, Mediterranean Spearfish, Dorado, Greater Amberjack, Leerfish, Dentex, and Pargus. The registration fee in 2023 was €800+VAT, including four anglers and boat mooring for the four days of the competition.
Velotürk Gran Fondo Çeşme – (November – Çeşme)
7th Veloturk Gran Fondo Çeşme Website – 4-5 November 2023
Started in 2016, the Gran Fondo Çeşme is a long-distance road bike race for amateur cyclists. From the Italian expression “Gare di fondo”, meaning “distance race”, they are held according to the participant’s age (19-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59,60-64) and level (Elite/Master) in the same course but at different distances and difficulty levels. The races are held under the regulations of the UCI and the Turkish Cycling Federation.
The event starts on the first day with registration, an expo, a fun ride, and a technical briefing. The two races start on the second morning at 08:00 and 08:30, respectively, and the day ends with the award ceremony at 13:30.
The long race starts on November 5, 2023, at 08:00. The starting and ending points of the race are in front of the Çeşme Courthouse, and the total length of the track for the long race is 110 kilometres. The long race is the Salcano Course, which takes in a figure of “8” along the south coast roads to Alaçatı, up to Şifne and Ildır and across the Karaburan peninsular to Gülbahçe and down to rejoin the old İzmir-Çeşme highway (D300) back to the centre of town. The total ascent on the route is 1,524 metres, and the time limit is six hours. Entrants include men and women mainly from Turkey but also from Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Russia, Qatar and the USA. Entry into the race in 2023 was TL 700 (€24), and registration was open until a week before the race.
The short race starts from the same location on November 5, 2023, at 08:30. The short race is the Toyota Hybrid Course, which is 63km with a total ascent of 799 metres and a maximum time limit of 4 hours and 15 minutes. The short course follows the same route as the long course down to the south coast roads to Alaçatı and up to Şifne; however, halfway to Ildır, it turns south through Germiyan village to rejoin the old İzmir-Çeşme highway back to the centre of town. Entry into the race in 2023 was TL 600 (€20).
Tasting Alaçatı – (Month not fixed – Alaçatı & surrounding countryside)
Tasting Alaçatı4 Website – 27-29 May 2022
The Tasting Alaçatı Festival is a series of cultural and culinary activities over a three-day period in various locations around the town and in the local countryside. These include tasting menus from Alaçatı’s finest restaurants, farm/beach picnics, presentations and seminars on unique local products such as artichoke and mastic provided by head chefs and suppliers, culinary, wine/whisky, craft, environmental preservation and agricultural workshops, art & photography exhibitions and musical performances. Some events are complimentary, while others, such as the tasting menus, are priced individually. The festival seeks to highlight the quality of natural products of the region and the food and beverage culture while promoting sustainability.
Up until 2022, the Tasting Alaçatı Festival has been held annually on four occasions at various times of the year: 27-29 May 2022, 10-12 September 2021, 5-7 June 2020 (cancelled due to Covid?), and 26-28 April 2019, and 11-13 May 2018. There was no Tasting Alaçatı 2023, and thus far, there appear to be no formal plans to stage the event in 2024.
Alacati Kite Festival