95th İzmir International Fair opens its doors

The İzmir International Fair is opening for the 95th time, even if it no longer carries the excitement of its most vibrant years. The fair remains deeply tied to İzmir, the Aegean region and Turkey, with its doors at Kültürpark open through Sept. 13.

International fairs once served as bright windows through which countries and cities looked out onto the world. They reflected local social and economic life while helping stimulate trade. İzmir’s fair became part of that tradition, growing alongside the city until the fair and İzmir became difficult to imagine separately.

Its history reaches back almost a century. Exhibitions organized around Sept. 9 under the leadership of the Society for the Protection of Domestic Goods evolved into an international fair. The initiative followed an exhibition opened during the Economics Congress and came to symbolize a new period in Turkey’s economic, social and cultural life.

Kültürpark is also marking its 90th year. During Mayor Behçet Uz’s tenure, workers cleared the traces of the İzmir fire, and construction of the park began on Jan. 1, 1936. The park’s design drew inspiration from Moscow’s Maxim Gorky Park. The sixth İzmir International Fair opened there on Sept. 1, 1936, bringing the functions of the park and the fair together.

The fair continued even during the Second World War, when the flags of countries at war stood side by side. For many people in İzmir and the Aegean, it was also a cherished place to encounter new technology, space-race exhibits, entertainment and performers. Families traveled from nearby districts and other cities to walk through every corner, preserving memories of an earlier era’s simpler pleasures.