What do, what to see in April in Istanbul?
This April 2017 in Istanbul is rich in events of all kinds despite the much-anticipated referendum on April 16 targeting to modify the Turkish constitution. This month you will find many concerts, sports with the WTA tournament and many football matches, gastronomy with the Timeout magazine’s 101 Lezzet festival but also many shows and exhibitions. Here is the program:
CONCERTS
April 1 – MFÖ & Şebnem Ferah: the deans of the Turkish rock with millions of albums sold will be in concert accompanied by Şebnem Ferah, a rock singer whose style varies from pop rock to hard rock. At theVolkswagen Arena.
Hayko Çepkin
April 14 – Guillaume Perret: the saxophonist, composer and arranger of French jazz is in concert at the Salon IKSV.
Pink Martini
April 21 – Erik Leuthaeuser Quartet: the jazz quartet composed of Turkish and German artists is at the Nardis Jazz Club.
Holifest Istanbul
April 29 – Kitaro: the Japanese “new-age” music musician will be athe Japanese “new-age” music musician will be at the Zorlu Center PSM. For the anecdote, the title Caravanseray, originally published on the album India, was chosen by Jacques Chirac to be the waiting music of the Élysée for 12 years.
Kitaro
SHOWS & FESTIVALS
April 24 – 101 tastes of Istanbul by Timeout:
The Timeout magazine organizes a gastronomy festival at the Esma Sultan Yalısı, a very nice event venue in Ortakoy on the Bosphorus.Au menu vous retrouverez des dizaines de stands de restaurants de la ville venus vous faire gouter à des délicatesses locales et d’ailleurs. Le festival a lieu le 24 avril au Esma Sultan Yalısı, plus d’informations sur : www.101istanbullezzeti.com
From April 24 to May 15 – Waiting for Godot: 
Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, are waiting for the arrival of someone named Godot who never arrives.In the meantime they engage in a variety of discussions and meet three other characters. Waiting for Godot is the translation of Beckett from its original French version. The original French text was written between 9 October 1948 and 29 January 1949. The first show took place on January 5 1953 at the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris. The English version was created in London in 1955. In the survey conducted by the British Royal National Theater in 1990, it was voted the most significant English-language play of the 20th century. At the Zorlu Center PSM
April 28 – Royal Opera House – The Sleeping Beauty, at the Zorlu Center PSM: 
Sleeping Beauty is a classical ballet whose music is composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and choreographed by Marius Petipa. The troupe will be at Zorlu PSM on April 28 with a screening of the Royal Opera of London!
The play by Ivan Vsevolozhsky is based on Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault, the show became the second most famous ballet of the repertoire of the Russian Imperial Ballet with more than 200 performances in 10 years around the world.
EXHIBITIONS
Until May 7 – Cold Front from the Balkans au Pera Musezi:
The exhibition “Cold in the Balkans” organized by Ali Akay and Alenka Gregorič brings together contemporary artists from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Of Slovenia.
The exhibition focuses on different generations of artists and artistic groups in the Balkan region. The exhibition avoids the usual inevitably unflattering political connotations of the region and focuses on a natural phenomenon – the wind. The title of the exhibition refers to a well-known expression in Turkish: “the cold wind blowing from the Balkans” which transmits the arrival of winter and is commonly used in television weather reports.
The works presented range from video to photography, from drawing to installation, and aim to create a new dialogue between Balkan artists of different generations and to provide a new point of view for the viewer.
Upload = Delphic Panaceas Exhibition – until April 20 at the Zorlu Center PSM:
The Zorlu Center is currently organizing an exhibition entitled «Upload = Delphic Panaceas», offering an extraordinary experience where visitors can experience art that stimulates the five senses. The exhibition began to be formed in 1945 and continues today with Eleni Ikoniadou Patrick Defasten Toby Heys, Steve Goodman (Code-9) and Souzanna Zamfe, it will welcome visitors until 20 April.
The exhibition invites viewers to a unique experience as it responds to all five senses simultaneously. t will house AUDINT’s previous and current works, which have visited numerous renowned art galleries including Tate Britain, the Academy of Art in Berlin and Art in General in New York, and drew the attention of his performance at the New Forms Festival organized in London and Vancouver. For more informations: sonaristanbul.com
SPORTS
Football 
Watch a football match in Istanbul is an experience not to be missed, the atmosphere of the stadiums is often explosive while remaining friendly. Here are the matches we advise you to go in April in Istanbul:
Turkish League: at the time of writing this lines, the Beşiktaş is leading the championship with 5 points ahead of Istanbul Başakşehir. It seems like the title will be played between the two clubs, to see if Beşiktaş can stay ahead of its runner. Also note that the Istanbul derby (Galatasaray vs Fenerbahçe) will be held on April 23, an explosive match not to be missed if you are in the vicinity.
April 9 – Fenerbahçe VS Akhisar at the Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium.
April 23 – Galatasaray VS Fenerbahçe at the Türk Telekom Arena.
April 24 – Beşiktaş VS Adanaspor at the Vodafone Arena.
April 30 – Başakşehir vs Beşiktaş at the Fatih Terim Stadium.
Europaleague: Beşiktaş is the last Turkish club competing in the European competition and will play the quarter-final return match against the Olympique Lyonnais on April 20. It is a game that may be complicated for the OL because of the crazy atmosphere of the Vodafone Arena!
April 20 – Beşiktaş VS Olympique Lyon at the Vodafone Arena
To buy tickets go on Passolig, for more information contact us!
Basketball
Watching a Basketball game in Istanbul is also an unforgettable experience, especially since Turkish clubs have been competitive in Europe for a number of years. Last year Fenerbahçe lost at the last minute in the final of Euroleague (the equivalent of the European NBA or the Champions League of basketball) and Galatasaray won the Eurocup against Strasbourg (the equivalent of the Europa League of basketball). But this is not all, Istanbul has currently 4 teams in Euroleague (Efes, Darüşşafaka, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe), and all want this year to grab the grail. The atmosphere in the basketball stadiums is as crazy as in the football stadiums, so do not miss it! Here are the matches to follow in the next two months:
Find all the fixings and schedules on www.euroleague.net, for tickets and more information contact us!
From April 24 to April 30 – Istanbul’s tenis open / TEB BNP Paribas İstanbul Cup 
The WTA tournament will be held in Istanbul between April 24 and April 30, 2017. The BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup champions from previous years have included Venus Williams, Elena Dementieva, Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki.
The tournament is played in the magnificent complex of the Garanti Koza Arena and we advise you to reserve your seats now if you wish to attend. You can buy your tickets on biletix.com.
For the other activities we propose you in April 2017 click here!
