Beginning with whirling dervish ceremonies and ending with fireworks, the Chicago festival was immensely popular, and organizers billed it a success. Coordinated by the Turkish American Society of Chicago (TASC), the event introduced diverse aspects of Turkish and Turkic culture to throngs of Americans and Turkish-Americans.
In his speech opening the two-day festival, Ergün applauded the TASC's move to organize this and similar events to promote intercultural understanding. Following Ergün's speech, the minister and his wife visited the stands set up for the festival and also chatted with Turks there, posing for pictures and accepting gifts that some presented. Other Turkish dignitaries in attendance included Turkish Consul-General in Chicago Kenan İpek, Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Kayseri deputy Mustafa Elitaş, AK Party Bolu deputy Fatih Metin and AK Party Çorum deputy Agah Kafkas. Topkapı Palace Museum President Dr. İlber Ortaylı was also in attendance at the festival.
In addition to folk dancing and musical performance teams from Turkey, Turkic groups from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Albania performed.
Janissary band thrills crowds
One of the main attractions at the festival was a Turkish janissary band. The Eyüp Municipality Janissary Band traveled from İstanbul to Chicago to perform at the festival and introduce this aspect of Turkish culture to Americans. While in the United States, the band also played shows in the cities of Dayton and Cleveland in Ohio, and in Indianapolis, Indiana. The shows were all immensely popular. In Chicago, the janissary band also performed smaller shows before the start of the festival to promote the event. The band members were guest performers on a morning show on the local NBC 5 channel and later performed marching down the main thoroughfare, Michigan Street, joined occasionally by area residents. The band also played at the city's largest outlet center. Perhaps the most interesting location they performed at was a baseball diamond, performing before stands full of fans ahead of a match played by the Aurora University Cougars. As part of the festival, the team played a number of concerts at the Navy Pier, a popular tourist attraction.
