Aşk ile! Benefietfestival

The Aşk ile! Charity Event brings together inspiring speakers, artists and musicians for a day full of connection, with a special focus on Alevi culture and music. The festival commemorates and honors the artists and intellectuals who were killed in the July 2, 1993 attack on the Madımak Hotel in Sivas, Turkey. The program includes an afternoon of various workshops and talks led by Chris Keulemans, Sinan Can and Özkan Gölpınar. In the evening, there will be performances by Meral Polat, Ten Hut & Burak, Oh Voyage, Ferhat Kaplan and DJ İpek İpekçioğlu, among others.

On July 2, 1993, during the Pir Sultan Abdal Festival in Sivas, a hotel was set on fire by a group of fundamentalists. Among the victims were visitors, musicians, artists, poets and intellectuals. This tragedy has left deep marks both inside and outside the Alevi community. Alevism, an enlightened, religious-humanist movement in Turkey, is also one of the largest religious groups in the Netherlands among residents with roots in Turkey.

Aşk ile!, which means “With love,” pays tribute to the victims and celebrates the resilience and culture of the Alevi community. At the same time, it engages in dialogue with other communities in the Netherlands fostering connection through dialogue, art and music.

Proceeds from the charity festival will go to Stichting Namenmonument Sivas, a non-profit organization aimed at creating and placing a piece of art in the Netherlands in memory of the victims of the attack in Sivas. The monument will honor the fallen visitors, musicians, writers, poets, artists and intellectuals and keep their work and stories alive.

More detailed information about the program will be provided on the Instagram page of Stichting Namenmonument Sivas and the website of Stichting Pera.

Aşk ile! Charity Event is an initiative of Stichting Namenmonument Sivas and Stichting Pera in collaboration with Paradiso and Tolhuistuin.