While festivals continue with different groups of students across Turkey, preparations for a spectacular end to the Turkish Language Olympiad are underway.
The venue for the grand finale, scheduled for Thursday, is Türk Telekom Arena -- Galatasaray's new multi-billion-dollar, 52,000-capacity football stadium in İstanbul's Seyrantepe neighborhood. According to a written statement issued by the organizers from the International Turkish Education Association (TÜRKÇEDER), the pitch will be covered and used as the platform for performances. A group of 290 international performers will put on a show while a visual festival will be presented to the audience with light and projection elements.
The students will wear 1,000 specially-made costumes in the closing ceremony, and participants are rehearsing 10 hours a day for the big show. Turkish Olympiad General Art Director Cemil Özen says he is working with students from four continents and 22 countries around the world. “This spectacular event will be a first, gifted to the world by the Turkish Olympiad. I hope the messages of love, friendship and kinship will echo across the world and the labor of ourselves and our students will get the appreciation that it deserves,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.
A 200-person technical unit is assisting in preparations for the grand finale at the stadium. Animations and images will be projected onto a giant screen set on the pitch. An orchestra composed of 50 musicians will provide music for the night. Four giant models representing the four different continents from which the students come will be placed in the stadium.
A total of 1,500 international students from 135 countries have come to Turkey for the Turkish Language Olympiad. This year's competitions, which commenced on May 30 and will finish on June 14, have predominantly been held in Ankara and İstanbul, but there have also been activities in 41 other Turkish cities. The theme of this year's Olympiad is “İnsanlık için el ele” (“Hand-in-hand for humanity”).