Şanlıurfa, better known to most travellers as the gateway to Göbeklitepe, is hosting something completely different right now: Teknofest Southeast, the world's largest aviation, space and technology festival, running Wednesday through Sunday at GAP Airport.
The festival has been a Turkish fixture since 2018 and has drawn nearly 12 million visitors across its editions. This southeastern edition sprawls across 191,000 square metres of airport grounds and packs in a five-day programme that goes well beyond static displays. Air shows come from some of Türkiye's best-known flight teams — Solotürk and the Turkish Stars among them — plus fighter aircraft, Atak helicopters and the country's much-discussed drone fleet, including the Bayraktar TB2, TB3 and Akıncı, alongside Hürkuş and Anka platforms and land and naval vehicles.
There's a lot for families and casual visitors, not just aviation nerds. The bill includes concerts, stage shows, a planetarium, simulation areas, science shows, a "Time Tunnel" exhibition and educational workshops, with special first-flight experiences laid on for students. Entry activities run all day for all ages, which is part of why the festival has become such a popular domestic outing.
The competitive side is serious business. More than 730,000 teams applied to this year's technology competitions from 99 countries — the U.S., France, China and Japan included — and 2,000 teams made the finals, with finals in 14 categories decided during the Şanlıurfa event. New categories this year cover 5G, AI-driven road safety, electronic warfare and even technology aimed at combating addiction. Organisers have put up more than TL 100 million (over $2 million) in support for successful contestants. The lineup ranges from a drone championship and Robolig robotics contest to blockchain, steel dome air defence, satellite terminals and agricultural tech challenges, each run with partners like TÜBİTAK, Aselsan and the central bank.
For travellers, the appeal is the spectacle: watching the Turkish Stars streak overhead in formation, wandering rows of drones and helicopters, and catching an evening concert — all in a city most foreign visitors only pass through. Teknofest rotates between Turkish cities each year, so if you can't make Şanlıurfa this week, it's worth tracking where the next edition lands. And if you are in town, pair the festival with Göbeklitepe, the 12,000-year-old temple site that's a short trip away and arguably Türkiye's most remarkable archaeological attraction. Arrive early for the air shows, bring sun protection for the airport apron, and expect crowds — the numbers here are enormous by any festival standard.
