The world's largest aviation, space and technology festival, TEKNOFEST, will open its doors to visitors on Wednesday at Sanliurfa GAP Airport in Türkiye under the name TEKNOFEST Southeast, with the five-day event expected to feature air shows, technology competitions, exhibitions and educational activities.
The festival, which has welcomed nearly 12 million visitors since its launch, will be held from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 in Sanliurfa, a southeastern province of Türkiye.
Organised under the leadership of the Turkish Industry and Technology Ministry, the T3 Foundation, and Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade Inc. (STM), the festival will cover an area of 191,000 square meters at Sanliurfa GAP Airport.
Air shows, exhibitions and activities for all ages
TEKNOFEST Southeast will bring together activities for visitors of all ages throughout the five-day event.
The festival will feature air shows by Türkiye’s leading aviation and defence platforms, including SOLOTURK and the Turkish Stars, as well as fighter aircraft.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to see ATAK helicopters, HURKUS, ANKA, Bayraktar TB2, Bayraktar TB3, and Bayraktar AKINCI, alongside land and naval vehicles.
The program will include concerts, stage performances, exhibitions, educational workshops, simulation areas, a planetarium, science shows, the TEKNOFEST Time Tunnel, displays of domestically developed land, naval and air vehicles, trade fair activities and special first-flight experiences for students.
More than 1.6M contestants applied from 99 countries
TEKNOFEST Southeast will feature technology competitions aimed at supporting technological development in critical fields, with teams that advance through the preliminary stages receiving financial and other forms of support.
More than 1.6 million contestants and hundreds of thousands of teams applied to the technology competitions held as part of TEKNOFEST Southeast. Of more than 730,000 teams that applied, 2,000 advanced to the finals.
Successful contestants will receive more than 100 million Turkish liras in total support.
Applications to this year's TEKNOFEST Technology Competitions came from 99 countries, including the US, France, China and Japan.
Eleven new categories were added, including 5G, the Artificial Intelligence and Smart Road Safety Competition, the Technological Applications in Combating Addiction Competition and the Electronic Warfare Competition.
Finals of 14 technology competitions to be held in Sanliurfa
The finals of technology competitions in 14 categories will be held in Sanliurfa as part of TEKNOFEST Southeast.
These include the Technological Applications in Combating Addiction Competition, organised by the Turkish Green Crescent Society; the Blockchain Competition, organised by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK); the Steel Dome Air Defense Systems Competition and Mobile Satellite Terminal Competition, organised by ASELSAN; the Financial Technologies Competition, organised in cooperation with Takasbank and the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye; the HackMasters Southeast Competition, organised by the Cybersecurity Presidency; the International Invention Competition under ISIF, organised by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office; the Mining Technologies Competition, organised by Turkish Gold Inc.; the Architectural and Visual Design Competition, organised by KUME Foundation; the 3T in Oncology Competition, organised by Cansagligi; the Agricultural Technologies Competition, organised by Bilisim Vadisi and TUME; the TEKNOFEST Drone Championship and World Drone Cup, organised by STM; and the TEKNOFEST Robolig Competition, organised by the T3 Foundation.
Admission to TEKNOFEST Southeast is free, but visitors must register online to enter the festival grounds.
Visitor entry and exit will be available between 9 am and 7 pm local time each day. Organisers recommend using public transportation to reach the festival area for faster and easier access.
