New Jersey’s Turkish community gathered on Saturday evening, September 12, 2026, for a Turkish folk music and halay night held in Wayne. The program at Blue Fig Garden’s Wayne location inside Willowbrook Mall featured the Soso Brothers, while Anatolian melodies, halay dances and Turkish cuisine accompanied the evening.
As folk songs from different regions of Anatolia were performed, attendees responded with halay dances. In this respect, the event went beyond a program focused solely on stage performances, bringing Turks from New Jersey and the surrounding area together around music, dance and a shared dining culture.
The evening’s musical lineup included various instruments. Soso played the davul and zurna, Saver Yılmaz performed on the mey and düdük, Dirancan Gündeş played the bağlama and sang, and Ömür Ersoy performed on the piano.
The use of the davul, zurna, bağlama, mey, düdük and piano in the same program brought together different sounds of Anatolia. The cultural atmosphere, with attendees joining in throughout the folk songs and halay dances, was one of the evening’s highlights.
Blue Fig Garden’s Wayne location, which hosted the event, is an event venue used for weddings, engagements, private celebrations and cultural programs. The business traces its history to operations that began in Cherry Hill in 2020 and the subsequent opening of its Wayne location.
The Turkish folk music and halay night was one of the gatherings through which New Jersey’s Turkish community maintains its social ties around traditional music, dance and cuisine. Anatolian melodies, halay dances and the shared dining culture brought the atmosphere of home to the forefront throughout the evening.