Şanlıurfa, better known to travellers as the gateway to Göbeklitepe, has a temporary new draw: Teknofest Southeast, Türkiye's flagship technology and aerospace festival, running Sept. 30 to Oct. 4. The event pulls thousands of visitors, young inventors and tech fans into the southeastern province for five days of air shows, exhibitions and the finals of national tech competitions across 14 categories.
The headline acts are in the sky. Aerobatic teams SoloTurk and the Turkish Stars perform alongside fighter jets, with a parachute jump, paramotor flights and a Bayraktar Akıncı drone demonstration on opening day. Later in the programme there's a Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Atak helicopter flyover and a display by the Gendarmerie's Steel Wings aerobatic team.
On the ground, the hardware lineup reads like a showcase of Türkiye's homegrown defence industry: TAI's Atak, Hürkuç and Anka sit alongside Baykar's Bayraktar TB2, TB3 and Akıncı drones, with naval and land vehicles exhibited too.
It's not all military hardware. The festival packs in concerts, stage performances, science shows, a planetarium, simulation zones, educational workshops, a "Time Tunnel" attraction and trade show events. Students get special first-flight activities, which tells you a lot about the event's core audience — it's pitched at inspiring young people as much as entertaining the general public.
Admission is free, though you must register online before entry — a small step worth doing in advance since walk-up demand for a festival of this size can be heavy.
For travellers already in Türkiye or planning an autumn trip, the timing works nicely. Şanlıurfa sits in the country's southeast and is one of its most historically significant cities: Göbeklitepe, often called the world's oldest known temple site, is just outside town, and the old bazaars and the Pool of Abraham are easy to add to a visit. Pairing a few festival hours of drone flyovers and aerobatics with the region's ancient sites makes for an unusual but genuinely compelling itinerary. Early October weather in the region is generally mild, more comfortable than the punishing summer heat.
Just note that this is a large, busy public event — expect crowds, security checks and the need to plan your days around the air-show schedule. If military aviation and technology aren't your thing, the concerts, science shows and planetarium still give the festival family-friendly appeal.
