Page 10 - Hazırlık İngilizce | 8. Ünite

8B PUT THE FLAGS OUT!

Reading

a Discuss the following questions with your
friends.

1 What benefits can a city get from festivals?
2 How does cultural exchange affect people?

b Skim the magazine article and try to guess Urla is a rural tourism spot which has improved
what the best title for it can be. Write it in a lot recently. It has many antique remains and
the box below. villages which are untouched by tourism or
urbanism. The residents of these villages still keep
the centuries-old tradition of growing olives and
grapes alive. They are of the opinion that they
c Read the magazine article and try to guess bear a great responsibility of not letting the region
the meanings of the highligted words. turn into a desert. That’s why they keep their lands
2,700 years ago, Akçaabat was an important town cultivated.
of eastern Black Sea region. Though it was attacked Urla’s Traditional Grape Harvest Festival dates
by many nations, none of them was successful at from 600 BC and it acts as a bridge between
capturing the town except Sultan Mehmet the past and present. Approximately 2,600 years
Conqueror; he added it to his territories in 1461. ago, people used to have festivals in the name
In our day, this beautiful town hosts a great of Dionysus, the Ancient Greek god of the grape
international festival, Akçaabat International harvest and theatre. They would squash the grapes
Culture, Art and Folk Dance Festival. It is accepted under their bare feet to extract their juice and
by many people to be one of the greatest ones then, they would drink it or use it as a sweetener
in the region. Apart from its contributions to the for their desserts. In present day, of course, the
tourism sector, it has a strong effect on making folk festival has nothing to do with religious rituals, but
dances of other countries widely known by Turkish it is celebrated as a time of festivity. Urla hosts the
people. It also plays a key role in introducing the festival on 15 August, when olives get oilier and
history and cultural values of the city to foreigners. grapes sweeter.
The festival begins with art, cartoon and Throughout the festival, several local products
photographic exhibitions. A painting contest for such as grapes are offered to the guests. Well-
kids and a street basketball tournament are held. known chefs run workshops and people can
On the second day, folk dance groups coming from watch folk dance groups perform while children
other countries and cities go on a parade along are offered fun and educational activities. A local
with visitors. It continues until they reach the delicacies championship is held where ‘keşkek’ is
beach and people form a huge ‘horon’ circle there. prepared and handed out to the guests. It is one of
As this can affect the traffic in the town, local UNESCO’s cultural heritage traditional ceremonies.
people generally prefer using public transport.
On the third day of the festival, which is also the
last, both national and foreign folk dance groups
perform.

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