Thousands of people packed Çalış Beach in Fethiye on Sunday afternoon to watch the Turkish Stars, the Turkish Air Force’s aerobatic team, perform a display marking the final day of the 26th International Ölüdeniz Air Games Festival, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
Spectators gathered along the seafront in Foça neighbourhood, while others took to the water in boats to watch the jets’ formation manoeuvres over the bay. Many filmed the show on their mobile phones, according to the agency.
The display had been scheduled for 15:30 on Sunday. The jets flew a rehearsal over Çalış and the town centre on Friday, as reported earlier by Turkey Daily News. AA did not give a crowd estimate beyond "thousands" and no official statements were included in its report.
A week of air sports at Ölüdeniz
The festival opened on 21 October with a ceremony at Belcekız Beach in Ölüdeniz, attended by Muğla Governor İdris Akbıyık and Fethiye Mayor Alim Karaca. Karaca said at the time that more than 1,000 athletes from various countries were taking part. The programme over five days included paragliding and free-fall displays, wingsuit ("bat-man") flights, paramotor and microlight shows, night-time LED paramotor flights and hot-air balloon activities.
The Ölüdeniz Air Games are one of the longest-running air sports events in Türkiye. They take advantage of Babadağ, the mountain rising behind the Ölüdeniz lagoon, whose take-off points sit more than 1,000 metres above the beach and draw paragliding pilots from across Europe each year.
Yoga on a rope at 1,000 metres
One of the more unusual acts on the last day came from Italian circus artist Manola Parentini, 48, local broadcaster Fethiye TV reported. She took off from the 1,400-metre launch site on Babadağ on a tandem flight with Turkish pilot İdris Güzeller and then performed yoga for around half an hour on a rope hanging beneath the paraglider, at an altitude of about 1,000 metres.
Parentini, who has worked in circuses in England for eight years, was performing the act at Ölüdeniz for the second year running. She climbed back to the glider and landed safely on the beach to applause. She told Fethiye TV that doing yoga on a rope in the sky was "a wonderful experience" for her.
What it means for residents and visitors
Weather is turning sharply after the sunny weekend. Forecasters have issued an orange warning for Muğla for heavy rain from early Monday, so anyone planning paragliding flights or boat trips in the coming days should check conditions first. Other events on the Fethiye calendar this weekend included the final round of the Turkish Motocross Championship at Esenköy. For more on life in the area, see our guide to living in Fethiye.
Sources
- Fethiye’de Ölüdeniz festivalinde Türk Yıldızları’nın uçuşunu binlerce kişi izledi (AA via Haberler.com)
- Gökyüzünde İpte Yoga Yaptı! (Fethiye TV)
- Fethiye’de 26’ncı Ölüdeniz Hava Oyunları Festivali törenle başladı (DHA via Haberler.com)
Photo: Adrian Pingstone / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
