ATA-Houston contributes to the society by organizing, sponsoring and hosting cultural and social events such as Turkish classes, seminars, picnics, music nights, concerts, and many other activities, which help build a bridge between the two cultures. Among the year-round activities organized by ATA-Houston, Turkish Festival is the biggest and most influential event. The first Turkish Festival in Houston was held in the year 1991, which was a first in the United States and has become a tradition since then. ATA-Houston has been able to expand and enrich its festivals every year in terms of the number of activities (musical and dance performances, arts and crafts displays and workshops, children activities, vendors, presentations, and food selection) and number of attendees it hosted. Houstonians have heterogeneous backgrounds and are very interested in learning differences among cultures.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of our festival. It will be only the second two-day festival after the successful 2009 event. As our festival is getting bigger and better, we are planning to reach out to more than 6,000 visitors during this year’s festival.
As a non-profit organization ATA-Houston relies on donations and gifts to have the financial capability to carry out its activities throughout the year. As in the previous years, a festival committee has already been formed and is meeting regularly to make this year’s festival even bigger and better than before. Turkishfest 2010 will include live music and dance performances, demonstrations of traditional arts and crafts, hands-on workshops, informative presentation sessions on Biblical sites, ecological riches of Turkey, history, and more, children’s corner, a variety of prized tournaments, a grand-bazaar and selections from the world-renowned Turkish cuisine. The projected expense to organize such an enriched event is more than $80,000. ATA-Houston’s goal is to obtain over $40,000 in gifts, donations and sponsorships so that the entrance fee to the festival can be kept low and a higher quality end product can be delivered to the community of Houston metropolitan area and visitors from all over the world.
ATA-Houston is relying on your support in presenting this event as a contribution to the diversity of the Houstonian culture. Please click here to donate ATA Houston
