By Bosphorus News Life Desk
The Bozcaada Jazz Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary on September 4-6, 2026, returning to the island with a program spread across Ayazma Monastery, Salhane and Habbele Beach.
This year's theme, "Impermanence," draws on jazz improvisation and the idea that no performance, encounter or place remains exactly the same. The festival presents its anniversary not as an attempt to preserve a fixed moment, but as a celebration of music and experiences that exist only while they are being shared.
The organizers link the theme to Heraclitus' image of the ever-changing river, arguing that jazz carries the same quality because even when musicians return to the same piece, the result is never identical. Bozcaada's wind, changing sea and temporary gatherings provide the wider setting for that idea.
Music across three venues
The main festival performances will take place at Ayazma Monastery, while Salhane will provide space for emerging sounds and Habbele Beach will host sunset sets.
The announced program includes Çağıl Kaya, French group Photons, Korhan Futacı's festival project "BCF10," Memo Garan, Too Tight, Ögem Yılmaz, Jamie S and Emir Üründül. Çağıl Kaya, Photons, Korhan Futacı and Memo Garan are scheduled for Ayazma Monastery, Too Tight for Salhane, and Ögem Yılmaz, Jamie S and Emir Üründül for Habbele Beach.
The lineup moves between jazz, improvisation and electronic music rather than treating the festival as a single-stage event built around one sound. By distributing performances across the island, the program makes Bozcaada itself part of the festival's rhythm.
KEŞİF expands the festival beyond concerts
The festival's interdisciplinary program, KEŞİF, will again extend beyond the music stages through panels, conversations, film screenings, gastronomy events, tastings, workshops, pop-up concerts and guided island walks.
The program is organized around gender equality, ecological transformation, social inclusion and the annual festival theme, while also covering Bozcaada's local and cultural history, art, technology, entrepreneurship and wellbeing.
The format is designed to turn the festival into a broader island experience rather than a sequence of concerts. Visitors move between performances, conversations and activities taking place in different parts of Bozcaada, with the temporary nature of each gathering reinforcing the anniversary theme.
The Bozcaada Jazz Festival will take place on September 4, 5 and 6.
Sources: Bozcaada Jazz Festival official website and program, Bosphorus News review
Festival details:https://bozcaadacazfestivali.com/