Meet Us at the Marina Promenade

The Gulf Festival is being organized for the second time this year by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.

On September 22-23, alongside concerts, shows and colorful events, the competition at sea will bring a colorful weekend to the gulf.

The Gulf will be enlivened with sailing races to be held under the hosting of Karşıyaka Sailing Club, as well as canoe and rowing races to be held at Pasaport.

The main event of the festival, İzmir Arkas Gulf Race, will be the center of excitement and entertainment.

Arkas, setting out with the belief that İzmir should also have an international yacht race, achieved record participation last year by hosting over 40 boats and nearly 400 racers in the race that reunited the Gulf with sails.

This year again, with the support of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, Turkish Sailing Federation, Çeşme Marina Aegean Offshore Yacht Club and Konak Pier, İzmir residents will see yet another completely different aspect of the sea at İzmir Arkas Gulf Race.

The İzmir Arkas Gulf Race, where yachts will compete fiercely on triangular and sausage courses, can be watched from viewing terraces to be set up along Alsancak Kordon;

Between Gündoğdu Square and Alsancak Ferry Pier, from Göztepe Ferry Pier to Konak Pier and Konak Ferry Pier, along the coast from Alaybey to Bostanlı Ferry Pier.

Especially from Göztepe, it will be possible to watch the racing excitement with views of yachts flying spinnakers. While İzmir residents flock to the coasts throughout the weekend to enjoy this beautiful scenery, they will also announce İzmir's festival through their social media posts.

At the opening organized at Kültürpark on Friday evening, September 21, last year's champion Arkas-M.A.T. Sailing Team will hand over the trophy they kept in their museum for 1 year to the race committee in the organized ceremony.

After an enjoyable yet challenging two-day race, on Sunday, September 23, the racers will witness a magnificent closing cocktail. They will receive their trophies at the awards ceremony at the Havagazı Factory, which has one of İzmir's most authentic atmospheres.

The specially designed trophies for the Izmir Arkas Gulf Race, which took form last year through a workshop attended by students from Dokuz Eylül University, Yaşar University, and Economics University Faculty of Fine Arts, will find their owners. 

The design of the Overall Trophy, which Arkas-M.A.T. Sailing Team lifted last year thanks to their first place in the IRC 1 category, belongs to Dokuz Eylül University Graphic Department Graphic Design Student Merve Karagöz.

Waves transformed into wing form, the movement in the waves refers to the constant never-give-up attitude in races and the racing spirit. The transformation of waves into wing form represents lightness, speed, natural conditions, and the importance of wind.

This weekend, let's say the racers to the gulf waters, the spectators to the promenades.