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Kaş Jazz Festival, the Marina Stage With a Sunrise Set in the Old Theatre

For three nights jazz fills the marina at Kaş, and one early set is played in the town's ancient theatre, which faces the sea. Both venues are a short walk from the harbour.

By Lycia Journal4 min read
Musicians on a stage lit in purple beneath flowering trees

By the second band the yachts along the pontoons have gone quiet and the marina lights lie on the water in long strips. A bass line carries over the breakwater and into the streets behind. Out on the horizon the Greek island of Meis is a low dark shape with a few lights on it, and the people at the back of the crowd are watching that instead of the stage.

The Kaş Jazz Festival runs three nights at Setur Marina Kaş and, by Turkish standards, it has been going a long time. The town carries on around it.

A stage between the masts

The marina is the main venue. Evenings follow the same order: a warm-up set, then the headline acts, then an after-party for anyone who still wants one. The line-up mixes Turkish and international musicians and changes every year, so use the festival's own page, kascazfestivali.com, for the current programme rather than a third-party listing.

The setting is the point. The audience listens beside moored boats, and the breeze comes through all night. An open marina cools down after dark, so bring a layer.

It helps to arrive early. The marina is small, and the walk along the pontoons before the first set is part of the evening: engines ticking as they cool, crews eating on deck, a few people already settled on the breakwater with a view of the stage and the island. When the music starts, the town does not stop for it. Cafés stay open on the streets behind, and the sound carries well enough that a late dinner can be taken with the festival as background.

Bean bags and lawn seating among palms before the evening set
A band on a lit open-air stage in front of the crowd at night

A theatre with no back wall

Kaş was Antiphellos in antiquity, the harbour of the inland city of Phellos, and its Hellenistic theatre still stands on the slope above the town. The rows face the sea. There was never a permanent stage building to block the view, so Meis fills the space where a back wall would be.

The two venues make a pair. The marina gives you the night, loud and lit, and the theatre gives you the morning, bare stone and a long flat sea. Few festivals can offer both in the same weekend, and in Kaş neither needs much staging.

In recent editions the festival has played a sunrise set here at seven in the morning, free to attend.

Editor's picks

  • Stay in the centre.The marina, the harbour and the theatre can all be reached on foot, and a late finish is easier without a car.
  • Buy tickets early.Recent editions sold single nights and combined passes through Biletix. Check the festival page for the current seller before you pay anyone.
  • Set an alarm for the morning set.It was free in recent editions, and the sea is the first thing you see when you sit down.
  • Eat at the harbour before the first set.Tables near the water go first on a concert night.
  • Walk Uzun Çarşı to the lion sarcophagus.The old bazaar street ends at one of the best-known tombs in town. Allow half an hour with the shops.
  • Cross to Meis the day after.Boats leave from Kaş harbour for the Greek island, and the crossing is short.
A crowd in the stage lights at an open-air concert

Insider notes

Kaş tells a story about the island opposite. Two giants, one on each shore, were parted when the sea drew back, and they will wake and find each other again when the water touches them. A past edition of the festival was announced with this story.

The theatre has no gate hours and no entry fee, so walk up the evening before and find the way in daylight. The seats are bare stone steps, so bring something to sit on for the morning set. Some editions also fill the daytime with talks on archaeology and maritime history, and dates and format change from year to year, so the festival page is the source to trust.

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How to get to Kaş

Dalaman is the closest airport, about two hours by road along the D400 past Fethiye and Kalkan. In Kaş the marina and the theatre are both a walk from the harbour, and the dolmuş runs to Kalkan. Flights from Europe and Istanbul are covered in Getting there.

The theatre never had a stage building, so the sea has always been part of the set.

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