Dereköy Bal Festivali

The Dereköy Honey Festival is a village festival held every year in early October in Dereköy, in the Kemalpaşa district of Izmir, where local beekeepers present their honey and the village's other farm products. The festival is organised by the Dereköy-Gökyaka Agricultural Development Cooperative with support from Kemalpaşa Municipality and Izmir Metropolitan Municipality. It was held for the 10th time in 2025.

Where is the Dereköy Honey Festival held?

There are many settlements called Dereköy in Türkiye; the Dereköy known for its honey festival is a neighbourhood in Kemalpaşa, Izmir, on the foothills of Mount Mahmut. Beekeeping, olives, grapes and cherries are among the village's main livelihoods; thanks to the surrounding Turkish red pine forests, the village also produces pine honey.

When is the festival held, and how many editions have there been?

The festival is therefore held around the first week of October, when the honey harvest is largely complete. Some older texts say the festival began in 2005; we have not found a source confirming this.

What is there at the festival?

• Honey and produce stalls: Honeys from village producers; local products such as olive oil, thyme and grapes. The village's women producers play an important role in processing and presenting the products.
• Honey tasting: Visitors can taste and buy honey directly from the producers.
• Award ceremony: At the 2023 festival, prizes were given to the winners of the honey competition.
• Mountain run: Around 250 athletes took part in the 10-kilometre mountain run held for the first time in 2023.
• Cultural programme: Folk dance performances and concerts.

Pine honey in Dereköy and the Aegean

In the Turkish red pine (Pinus brutia) forests covering the Aegean's coastal mountains lives the scale insect Marchalina hellenica, which produces the sweet secretion that bees collect. The pine honey made from this secretion is a dark, not very sweet honeydew honey that crystallises late. In forest-edge villages like Dereköy, pine honey is an important product that complements the flower honeys of spring.

Tips for visitors and beekeepers going to a village honey festival

• Go early: Produce is limited at village festivals; the best honeys usually sell out in the first hours.
• Talk to the producer: Ask about the location of the apiary, whether the honey is flower or pine, and when it was harvested.
• Cash and bags: Card payment may be limited with small producers; bring a cloth bag to carry your purchases.
• For beekeepers: Village festivals are a good opportunity to meet local beekeepers and learn about apiary sites, vegetation and their experience of forming cooperatives in the area.