Cappadox 2024

Inspired by the layered cultural texture and unique landscape of Cappadocia, Cappadox offers a multidisciplinary platform through experiences of music, contemporary art, gastronomy, and outdoor events. This year, the fifth edition of the festival will take place under the theme “Changing Skies” from May 23rd to 26th. With the main sponsorship of Volkswagen and support from Yapı Kredi and +1, the hospitality partnership of Doğuş Hospitality, and contributions from Argos in Cappadocia, Under Armour and KIKO Milano will once again enjoy experiences that bring together four disciplines.

The festival’s first edition was realized in 2015 under the title "Cappadocia Struck," and followed by the themes of "Let Us Cultivate Our Garden" in 2016, "Ways Out From The World" in 2017, and "Silence" in 2018. As Turkey’s first destination festival, Cappadox has hosted approximately 500 musicians in over 80 concerts across various villages, towns, and valleys of Cappadocia, along with 72 projects and contemporary art events involving 50 artists, 50 gourmet tasting and dining experiences presented by four chefs, and over 100 outdoor activities, bringing together 50.000 Cappadoxians.

Under the theme “Changing Skies”, this year, the festival’s contemporary art program will be realized in loving memory of curator Fulya Erdemci, the founder and drafter of Cappadox Contemporary Art Program whom we lost in 2022, and will welcome visitors until June 13th. The festival invites Cappadoxians to reflect on our collective learnings from Cappadocia over the past four editions. Named after Erdemci’s 2001 exhibition at Karşı Sanat titled “Regrets, Reveries, and Changing Skies”, Cappadox calls upon participants to collectively remember the shared experiences formed gradually and encounters made possible by the multilayered historical, cultural, and physical geography of Cappadocia and reflect on them after six years.

The "Changing Skies'' contemporary art program will be curated from a selection from works featured in previous editions. Artists’ interpretations of the cultural and social transformation of the Cappadocia region and with different forms of perceiving and experiencing this multifaceted geocultural texture, will be revisited through their artworks created between 2015 and 2018. Each of these works, created for former Cappadox exhibitions, establishes connections with the area’s history, ecosystem, living and non-living nature, geographical, architectural features, and socio-economic aspects. They navigate through the non-linear, interrupted, and intricate paths of societal and historical transformations’ resistances to plans and projections, and openness to coincidences, accidents and misunderstandings beyond cause-and-effect relationships.

Cappadox's music program, featuring a wide range of genres and rhythms from musicians from Turkey and all over the world, will begin with the break of dawn. Performances tailored for each venue’s ambiance and mesmerizing setting of Cappadocia will kick off with Sunrise Concerts in Kızıl Vadi (Red Valley), followed by exciting sounds echoing within the intimate space of Müze Argos, a former cave. After the sunset gatherings at Argos Vadi Crystal Stage, the Çiftlik Ev +1 Stage will host the first concerts of the evening. The music program will close with concerts and DJ performances in the enchanting and psychedelic ambiance of Perili Ozanlar Vadisi (Fairy Poets Valley) Volkswagen Stage, taking Cappadoxians on a vibrant, multilayered, and dynamic sonic journey.

Sponsored by Yapı Kredi, the gastronomy program will return with experiences that blend taste and discovery. Along with the dining experience developed and presented by Chef Mustafa Otar for the Open Fire Cooking event, Gourmet Tasting events featuring gastronomic pairings and presentation by Levon Bağış will appeal to all senses of Cappadoxians.

The outdoor program, sponsored by Under Armour, will include valley walks, biking routes, yoga and meditation sessions available for different levels in Love Valley, Pigeon Valley, Bozdağ, and various valleys during different times of the day. Participants will be able to build new connections with their bodies and surroundings through experiences, where nature and history come together in Cappadocia’s unique landscape.

In previous editions, Uçhisar, Avanos, Orta Hisar, Göreme, and Çavuşin hosted exhibitions and programs, making Uçhisar the heart of Cappadox. With its multidisciplinary festival and art program taking place in venues and valleys within walking distance of each other surrounding Uçhisar, Cappadox calls to re-experience Cappadocia with all our senses and the collection of past editions shaped by Fulya Erdemci’s curatorial vision and cherished memory.

As in past editions, Cappadoxians will be able to build their own schedules by selecting from music, contemporary art, gastronomy, outdoor programs, and other activities according to their preferences.