Rize Sparrowhawk Festival Keeps a Black Sea Tradition Alive
Keepers and students met in Rize to pass the sparrowhawk tradition to a new generation.
Bird keepers and students gathered in Rize, in northeastern Türkiye, on 23 October 2026 for a Sparrowhawk Festival (Atmaca Festivali). The event aimed to protect the Rize sparrowhawk tradition and hand it down to younger people, according to Türkiye Today.
The Turkish Folklore Society of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University organised the festival outside the university’s Congress and Culture Center. Keepers displayed their birds and explained the local practice, known as atmacacılık (sparrowhawk keeping).
What Happened at the Rize Sparrowhawk Festival
The programme began with a procession of sparrowhawks and their keepers. Keepers then showed how they call a bird back to their arm. The day also included horon, a folk dance associated with the Black Sea region.
Gül Yılmaz Çal, a faculty member at the university, said the festival wanted to introduce the tradition and its cultural meaning to young people. She added that keeping sparrowhawks remains a passion among local residents. Some families, she said, set aside dedicated spaces in their homes for the birds.
Birds Treated Like Family Members
Keeper Hazal Akdemir said sparrowhawks have been part of her household since her childhood. In her words as reported, the birds are treated almost like family members.
The tradition also shows up in personal names. Kadir Atmaca Aksu said people are often surprised by his name. He sees it as a way to carry Rize’s heritage forward, and he argued that naming children after sparrowhawks is not unusual in a region where the birds matter so much. (Atmaca is the Turkish word for sparrowhawk.)
Why the Sparrowhawk Matters to Rize
Hüseyin Uzunhasanoğlu, president of the Fındıklı Traditional Sparrowhawk-Keeping Association, welcomed the chance to present the tradition to students from different parts of Türkiye. He called tea and the sparrowhawk two important symbols of Rize. He also noted that the bird appears as the emblem of the city’s football club, Rizespor.
Uzunhasanoğlu said the association will keep working to sustain the practice. For readers interested in Turkish culture, the festival is a reminder that living traditions often survive through families, local associations and universities working together.
Source: Türkiye Today
Featured image: Patriot9087 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
