Bursa Cultural Road Festival Highlights Centuries-Old Cuisine

The third edition of the Bursa Cultural Road Festival showcases the city’s millennial food heritage. Organized by the Turkey Cultural Road Festival and the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, the event features 50 designated "Lezzet Noktası" (Taste Points) that guide visitors to traditional eateries and historic food stalls.

Chef Gürkan Kaya, host of the festival, stresses that Bursa’s cuisine is a synthesis of Ottoman palace dishes, Balkan migrant recipes, and Tatar influences, reflected in staples such as Bursa kebab, cantık, tahanlı pide, cevizli lokum, süt helvası, kazandibi and kestane şekeri. The Lezzet Noktası mobile application helps tourists locate authentic venues, while also raising the profile of long‑standing family businesses. Examples include Kebapçı Hüseyin, run by second‑generation chef Mutlu Karaman, and the İnanç Fırın bakery, operated by the fourth generation of the Mertyürek family since 1928. Organisers say the festival boosts the local economy by drawing domestic and foreign guests and preserving culinary traditions passed down through generations.