Manda Festivali 2024

An annual water-buffalo festival celebrating the presence and permanence of pastoralist practices in Istanbul’s wetlands, Manda Festivali is organised by CLIMAVORE x Jameel at the Royal College of Art – a partnership between Cooking Sections, Community Jameel and the RCA – in collaboration with the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV).

Bringing together local herders, musicians, environmentalists, artists, biologists, cheese makers and the general public, the festival offers walks, performances, workshops, the first ever herder and buffalo portrait competition, and tasting of buffalo milk products.

In its third year, the festival offers Istanbul’s residents, food producers and ecologists an opportunity to come together and cherish the wetlands and the buffalos and the herders that protect.