The 19th edition of the Olive and Olive Oil Harvest Festival, which Burhaniye Municipality of Balıkesir has turned into a tradition, started with a cortege march in front of the Burhaniye Municipality Service Building.
It started with the National Anthem and a moment of silence in Cumhuriyet Square, following the cortege march from in front of the municipality service building to Cumhuriyet Square. After the National Anthem and the moment of silence, the festival wreath was left at the Atatürk monument by President Ali Kemal Deveciler. Following the wreath ceremony, a folklore show by the Burhaniye Municipality Youth Center Folk Dances team was performed and local hot tarhana soup was distributed to the citizens.
Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Birol Şahin, who took the podium to make a speech stating the meaning and importance of the day, emphasized the importance of olive cultivation in the region and said, “I hope the 19th Festival of olive oil and olive harvest will be fruitful.”
Burhaniye Mayor Ali Kemal Deveciler, who came to the podium to make the opening speech of the festival, stated that they are in the period when the olives harvested with great enthusiasm meet the palate and continued his words as follows; “We are happy to be together with our fellow citizens on the occasion of the Burhaniye Olive and Harvest Festival, which we organized for the 19th time this year. The world’s most delicious and high-quality olive oils are produced in these fertile lands where we live. We are aware of this unique beauty and value that the soil gives us. We want to protect the olive trees in our region, develop olive cultivation and As local governments, we are doing everything we can to support the producer. In addition to supporting the producer, we create our own brand and offer it for sale with the value we attach to the care of the olive trees on our municipality’s lands. We continue to make Burhaniye popular by making the name of our Burhaniye in the olive oil market in our country.
“Our Olive and Olive Oil Harvest Festival provides the opportunity to host our guests from many parts of the country in Burhaniye. As Burhaniye Municipality, we will always support such cultural and historical organizations,” he said.
Burhaniye and Olive Oil
Burhaniye is a municipality and district of Balıkesir Province, Turkey. Its area is 420 km2, and its population is 65,000. It is located on the Aegean coast. The town’s rich history dates back to the ancient times and as of today it’s a small but nice town, mostly famous for its olive oil. Balıkesir Koca Seyit Airport is ten minutes away by car. Burhaniye has a port and a museum of archeology. A museum for the Turkish National Movement was inaugurated in 2008 under the name Burhaniye Kuvay-ı Milliye Müzesi.
It’s very well known that the Aegean coast of Turkey has a rich history of olive cultivation and since antiquity the region is famous for its finest quality of olive oils. But Burhaniye district in particular is considered to be one of the best regions in olive production which deserves recognition and appreciation. And in Burhaniye, after the hard work of olive picking and producing olive oil, there comes the time for celebration. Burhaniye Olive and Olive Oil Harvest Festival is an intimate one compared with the large festivals around the world but it creates great joy for the town people. If you happen to visit this lovely town next winter, do not miss your chance to attend this wonderful event and share the taste of delicious local olives and olive oil.