The 18th edition of the Istanbul Theatre Festival kicks off today, to June 5, with the best of Turkish, and much more, productions. Modern works will be performed by Turkish groups but also from France, Germany and other countries. Modern or post-modern, all forms of modern theatre are admitted at the festival, particularly aimed at young people who are drawn to the festival in increasingly large numbers. From 2012 on, the Theatre Festival aims to revitalize and provide continuity to its educational projects. Workshops and seminar programs oriented towards young artists and theatre students will be organized to develop international collaborations with leading institutions in the field of theatre and dance. Exhibition and conferences are the other important events of the festival. The main aim of the festival this year is to present the young audacious generation of Turkish artists through a new programming called 'New Wave'. Among the performance, one titled 'Isn't it?' by Studio 4 Istanbul: it is a collective of three young people who have studied in the US before returning to Istanbul to work on contemporary projects questioning social issues, especially focused on the Turkish youth. The opening performace will be 'Nazim and Brecht, and a bit o Aziz Nesin', by Genko Erkal, an icon of Turkish theatre. In the past years, the Theatre Festival also presented experimental products in collaboration with several international festivals. This year internationally famous directors are invited to come to Istanbul to work together with Turkish artists and important theatres in the city. The meeting between these directors and the artists is meant to strengthen the relations between different cultures and to start new intercultural theatre projects. The Theatre Festival is part of this year's programme by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, which celebrates its 40th anniversary, with film, music, dance and design, as well as theatre, promoting the most interesting examples of urban art. The cultural fairs started in April with the Istanbul Film Festival, followed by the Theatre Festival from May 10 to June 5. Music will arrive in the city between May 31 and June 29, with the 40th Istanbul Music Festival during which 23 music concerts are performed. Next up is the Istanbul Jazz Festival (from July 2 to 19), the international opera singer contest (September 15-20), the Filmekimi Festival (October 6-14) with a selection of the best films of the year present at the Film Festival from across the world. The events are closed by the first edition of the design biennale (October 13 - December 12).