06/10/2026
✨KENT’S 2ND TURKISH CYPRIOT FESTIVAL ✨
Before anything else, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to every single person who came and supported us at Kent’s 2nd Turkish Cypriot Festival on Sunday 30th August.
We know that the day of our festival coincided with the devastating events that took place in Cyprus. Our deepest condolences and prayers go to everyone who lost loved ones and to all those affected. May those who sadly lost their lives rest in peace, and may their families find strength and comfort during this incredibly difficult time. Out of respect for those affected, and for the families and friends who were left grieving, we stayed a little quiet🤍
Our festival was created to bring people together and celebrate the beautiful Turkish Cypriot culture, community and heritage whilst raising money for a beautiful cause and that is exactly what happened. Through our food, music, dancing, traditions, businesses and most importantly, our people. We watched so many of you come together, learn something new, share memories and simply enjoy being surrounded by one another. There were smiles everywhere❤️
We saw people laughing, dancing, eating, meeting new people, supporting local businesses and celebrating our culture. And yes… we even saw those of you who kept dancing in the rain! 🌧️💃🏻😂
It truly was a beautiful day.
And because of you, we were able to raise an incredible £1,550 for the children at Tangül Ünal Çağıner Çocuklara Yardım Vakfı “Sevgi Evleri” in Cyprus. This has helped provide clothes, stationery, toys, everyday essentials and, most importantly, a fun and memorable day for the children.
Every person who came through played a part in making that possible.
❤️ A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY
We could never have made this festival happen without the incredible people who stood behind us.
A very special thank you to The Duke Of Cumberland Barhamteam, NOTCO Kıbrıs Türk Kültür ve Sanat Festivali, and every single one of our wonderful stallholders. Thank you for giving your time, energy, hard work and heart to the day. You helped create the atmosphere that made the festival so special, and we are incredibly grateful for every one of you.
A huge thank you to our Barham village community for supporting us, helping where needed and being so welcoming throughout the whole weekend.
A very special thank you to Saint John’s of Barham Church and their wonderful church wardens, who gave up their time to help guide people safely with parking and minimise disruption within our neighbourhood. They also had donation pots available while helping with parking and incredibly raised £266 for upcoming events in The Barham village. What a wonderful example of community spirit❤️
And then there is Michael Cox & his family❤️
We genuinely cannot thank you enough for allowing us to use your land. Your generosity made such a huge difference, and without your kindness and willingness to help us, this festival simply would not have been possible. Thank you for trusting us, supporting us and allowing our little community to come together on your land. We will always be incredibly grateful.
We are also very proud as The Duke of Cumberland to have covered the costs to help make the festival as successful as possible. We managed to get Kıbrıs Dörtlüsü, Dj Eren, Süreya and her lovely team of belly dancers, face painting, a security team and a bouncy castle. We hope to have some sponsors next year to make our festival even better!
A special thank you to the chef and team behind the Mangal and Kebab:
Jane Reynolds
Serdar Bozdal
Osman Ormancı
Kieron Parsons
Mesude Ormancı
Beverley Parker
İlkim İbrahim
Thank you for everything you did behind the scenes and on the day ❤️
MORMENEKŞE KADINLAR BİRLİĞİ DERNEĞİ
A very special and heartfelt thank you to Mormenekse Kadınlar kadınlar birliği derneği, who travelled all the way from Cyprus to be with us and share our beautiful Turkish Cypriot folk dancing.
It was such a privilege and pleasure to have you stay with us at The Duke. The few days we spent together were filled with laughter, food and so many lovely memories and we are so happy you became part of our festival family.
Thank you also for helping prepare the very special dolmas that were enjoyed and sold at the festival ❤️
OUR ENTERTAINMENT🎤🎼
Thank you to our wonderful security team for keeping everyone safe throughout the day❤️
Thank you to our lovely Ekin, who treated us to the beautiful sound of the oud ❤️
And of course, a huge thank you to Dj Eren, who kept the music going and somehow managed to keep everyone dancing all day long even when the heavens opened! 🎶💃🏻🌧️
BRINGING CYPRUS TO KENT🎼
A very special thank you to Kibris Dortlusu MuzikGrubu, who truly brought a little piece of Cyprus to Kent❤️ Their music filled the festival with that unmistakable Turkish Cypriot feeling and had everyone singing, dancing and enjoying themselves. It was so special to hear those familiar sounds and see our community come together through music.
A huge thank you also to our wonderful Süreya H Dancer and her belly dancing team, Gigi and Senay. 💃🏻❤️ Thank you for bringing so much energy, colour and joy to the festival. Your beautiful dancing added such a special touch to the day and was a wonderful celebration of our culture and traditions.
A special thank you to DJA Photography 📸❤️
For capturing so many beautiful moments from our festival and giving us memories we can look back on for years to come. ❤️
❤️ TO ALL OF OUR WONDERFUL SUPPORTERS
A huge thank you to Morrisons, who kindly donated a beautiful hamper for our raffle.
Thank you so much to our wonderful neighbours at Simpsons W**e Estate , who donated a w**e tour at their gorgeous estate for our auction.
And a special thank you to our lovely landlady Hatice from our Duke of Cumberland, who very generously added a bed and breakfast stay, a meal for two and a bottle of w**e to go with the Simpsons w**e tour, making an already fantastic prize even more special. ❤️
Thank you to TCCA Haringey for their incredible support and for helping us with the equipment and facilities we needed to bring the festival together.
Thank you to All Ages Ai***ft in Dover for kindly donating a gift card for our raffle.
And a heartfelt thank you to Co-op Funeralcare for their generous £75 donation.
Every contribution, no matter how big or small, helped us make a difference.
❤️ AND FINALLY… THANK YOU TO YOU.
To every person who bought a raffle ticket, came through, bought food, supported a stallholder, danced, laughed, donated, brought their family, brought their friends or simply spent the day with us…
Because of you, we have been able to give the children at Tangül Ünal Çağıner Vakfı “Sevgi Evleri” not only essentials like clothes, stationery, toys and everyday necessities, but also something just as important a day filled with fun, laughter and memories.
This is what community is about.
Bringing people together.
Celebrating where we come from.
Supporting one another.
And making a difference where we can.
From our little Country pub of Kent to Cyprus, thank you for helping us make that possible ❤️
We are so proud of what our community achieved together.
Kent Turkish Cypriot Festival 2026 what a day. What a community. What a beautiful memory. ❤️
Until next year…
With love and gratitude,
The Kent Turkish Cypriot Festival Team ❤️
