ISTANBUL COMEDY FESTIVAL Setting the trends of the humor scene across Turkey and preparing the ground for alternative and avant-garde projects, BKM is also the creator of Turkey’s first international comedy festival, “The Istanbul Comedy Festival”.

Carefully following the latest universal inclinations in culture and arts, BKM aims to bring a new vibe to Istanbul’s city culture by welcoming the most prominent national and international names of the humor scene within the scope of the “Istanbul Comedy Festival” organized since 2016. With its ever-changing and improved calendar every year, the Istanbul Comedy Festival aims to produce and enhance creative elements that embrace all aspects of comedy on an international platform and prepare the ground for a long-lasting and traditional structure, similar to that of other ongoing international comedy festivals.

The festival, scheduled to take place with the participation of many local and international renowned comedians, offers a broad range of events from humor-related exhibitions to pleasant comedy shows and panels with renowned names of the humor scene to screenings of comedy features.

“Istanbul Comedy Festival”

ON THE ISTANBUL COMEDY FESTIVAL The "Istanbul Comedy Festival" is a humor festival filled with high spirits, hearty laughter, and thought-provoking comedy…

What makes humor indispensable lies in the magic that elevates audiences to the level of the creators…

After all, every viewer will rewrite the story in their own way…

So that you, too, might rewrite, reflect on humanity, and defy life’s hardships while laughing and enjoying yourselves, actors, comedians, musicians, and theater performers will share stories from the stage…

What Kind of Comedy Festival?

Comedy, as it did yesterday and continues today, stands by humanity to face life's challenges and overcome loneliness…

This festival is a celebration that embraces every shade of humor, spreads across the city, and supports young voices to be heard—a festival of defying life with laughter…

A festival where every aspect—and absence—of humor is discussed, where words come from the audience too, and where young talents and masters come together to ask, “What’s the matter with humor?” to shape the humor of today and tomorrow…

Why?

Istanbul is a legendary global city, but it doesn’t reveal all its beauty…

It keeps them hidden; if you look behind a door, a wall, or a curtain, you’ll find yourself in refreshing oases.

What are you waiting for to experience the irresistible lightness and magic of being an audience?

Open the curtain, laugh, enjoy, and then go share it with others.

If you ask, “Why a comedy festival?”

“To expand the space for tolerance…”

Isn’t that reason enough?

Ali Poyrazoğlu
İstanbul, 2022

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