Forum Kapadokya and Aydın fill October with free events, will it drive mall traffic?
Forum Kapadokya in Nevşehir and Forum Aydın in Aydın are filling October with free children’s character shows spread across the weekends, plus Republic Day programmes, and Aydın has added a 5K run with a local club (Perakende.org, 12 October 2026).
For a mall tenant, the point is simple: two malls have built a month-long calendar with a separate reason to visit every weekend. The reports say nothing about the effect on footfall or sales. So for a tenant in an Anatolian AVM, the Turkish term for a shopping mall, in autumn 2026, the real question is how to walk a family from the stage to the till.
Which free events are Forum Kapadokya and Forum Aydın running in October 2026?
Both malls fill October with weekend character shows and a Republic Day programme, and according to the reports, entry is free (Perakende.org, 12 October 2026). Kapadokya runs Adventurous Fins (Maceracı Yüzgeçler) on 10-11 October, the Smurfs on 17-18 October and Masha and the Bear on 24-25 October. Aydın has Masha and the Bear on 10-11 October and Adventurous Fins on 17-18 October, with a run and a school band in between.
Why do the Forum malls spread the same characters across different weekends?
The reports do not say why; the pattern appears when you read both stories together. Masha and the Bear plays Aydın on 10-11 October and Kapadokya on 24-25 October, while Adventurous Fins plays Kapadokya on 10-11 October and Aydın on 17-18 October (Perakende.org).
What do local partnerships like Forum Aydın’s 5K run add to a mall?
A local partner brings an audience to the door that the mall cannot reach alone. Forum Aydın runs the race with Efeler Running Club and hosts the TED College band on 24 October (Perakende.org).
Which stores and businesses does the Forum malls’ October calendar affect, and how?
The likely winners are tenants that sell to families and children: toys, kidswear, stationery, cafes and fast food. Sportswear and shoe stores have a natural link to race week. The ones under pressure are stores far from the event area whose windows have nothing to do with the theme. Street businesses running play areas or children’s events feel it indirectly.
What can a mall event calendar like Forum’s bring a store in search, social media and local visibility?
Event weeks can bring a cluster of searches for the mall and event names, since the reports give no times or locations. A store that is invisible in that window never makes the family’s route: they find the mall, not the store.
What should a store owner at Forum Kapadokya or Forum Aydın do this week?
You still have the weekends of 17-18 and 24-25 October, plus 29 October. Our desk recommends putting every remaining event day into your staff and window plan, and setting one weekend aside for a measured test. If the store does not build the path from the show to the till, the crowd flows past in the corridor and the till stays quiet.
A store checklist for event weekends
Match event days to your shift plan. Put one theme-related product group up front in the window, and place an offer at the till that you track with an event code. Update your business profile and in-mall directions, then compare the event day’s receipt count with the previous weekend.
Quick Summary
- Forum Kapadokya and Forum Aydın run free weekend character shows throughout October (Perakende.org, 12 October 2026).
- The same characters fall on different weekends in the two malls, which creates a rotating calendar (Perakende.org).
- Forum Aydın held a 5K run with Efeler Running Club on 11 October and hosts a 100-strong school band on 24 October (Perakende.org).
- In the AYD–Akademetre index, August 2026 mall turnover rose 22.9% in nominal terms against 31.51% annual inflation (Foreks).
- The reports give no footfall or sales effect, so a tenant can measure it with receipt and code data.
Short Glossary
- Tenant mix
- Tenant mix is the planning term used to describe the spread of stores and categories in a shopping mall.
- Average basket value
- Average basket value is the retail indicator used to measure the average sale per receipt over a given period.
- Real decline
- Real decline is the economic term used to describe turnover that shrinks once inflation is removed, despite a nominal rise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Next Step
If you want to plan how your store can benefit from a mall’s event calendar, fill in our consult your expert form.
Sources: Perakende.org, October events at Forum Kapadokya, 12 October 2026 · Perakende.org, October events at Forum Aydın, 12 October 2026 · Foreks, mall sales-per-square-metre index, August 2026 · Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Trade, shopping malls page (linked in the text)
Updated: October 2026
Sık Sorulan Sorular
A marching band opens the day, visitors receive Turkish flags, and a children’s play and face painting follow. The play, “İki Bavul Dolusu” by Fabrika Sanat, tells the story of two clowns who miss their train and learn about friendship and sharing; it runs about 50 minutes and is for ages 3 and up.
On Sunday 11 October, a 5K run took place with Efeler Running Club: adults ran five laps around the mall, with a 1 km short course and a 200-metre children’s race as well. On 24 October, the 100-strong band of TED College celebrates Republic Day, and flags are handed out to visitors all day.
Neither report gives times or the exact spot inside the mall. In Kapadokya, “free” appears as a general statement, so it is not clear whether the play has separate conditions.
Characters spread over a month give a family a separate reason to return each weekend. The reports measure no effect on traffic, so this is our reading of the calendar, not the malls’ stated aim.
According to the AYD–Akademetre mall index, mall turnover rose 22.9% year on year in nominal terms in August 2026, while annual inflation stood at 31.51% that month; the real decline has lasted three months (Foreks, September 2026). In this climate, a free programme makes a visit without spending feel fine. The tenant’s job is to turn that visit into a basket, however small.
According to the report, child runners received gifts from Flying Tiger and the top three adults won prizes. A product gift puts a brand’s name right next to the stage. The report does not give the terms; that kind of participation is agreed separately with mall management.
Kits were handed out at the mall on 11 October, so runners came indoors too, close to cafes, sports stores and the supermarket.
First, audience overlap with the mall’s tenant mix; second, the partner’s own reach. We look at the same partnership logic in a food brand through Fersan and MEMEDER’s awareness pact on packaging.
A family leaving a show may stay and walk the floors. Moving one theme-related display to the entrance catches a child’s eye. If a product has been gathering dust on the shelf for months, the problem is often placement, not the product.
Between a show and a race, a family needs a break, and small, frequent orders add up at cafes and fast food counters. That is why the distance between food outlets and the event area matters in the tenant mix.
A free mall show squeezes a paid children’s event on the same weekend, so knowing the calendar early lets you pick a day that does not clash. We look at how chains build opening traffic in malls through MediaMarkt’s Koru Florya opening offers.
Add a post for event week, current opening hours and directions to your floor inside the mall. A profile that shows up for “mall name + store type” searches, with photos and floor details, sends the family straight to your door.
Share and comment on the mall’s event posts from the store account. Using character names in your own ads raises licensing questions, so referring to the mall’s event is the safer route.
Put receipt count, average basket value and campaign code use on event days next to an ordinary weekend. Then you can talk about sales per square metre from records, not guesses.
Ask first about event times, stage location and the terms for tenant participation. The common area and marketing contribution clauses in your lease belong on the table too. Turkish malls fall under Law 6585 on retail trade and the related regulation, listed on the Ministry of Trade’s shopping malls page. Verify with the official source; this is not legal or financial advice.
Planning an event calendar together with search, social and campaign data is one of the jobs we handle as a digital marketing agency.
According to Perakende.org, the events are free at both malls. The report does not make clear whether the children’s play in Kapadokya has separate conditions, so check times and entry through the mall’s own channels.
Mall management is the first contact for a stand, a gift or a joint campaign. Read the common area and marketing contribution clauses in your lease first; this is not legal advice, so check the contract with an expert.
Compare receipt count and average basket value on event days with similar earlier days. An event-only discount code is the easiest way to spot those customers at the till.