According to the Surnames most of the festivals took place in At Meydanı, nowadays Sultanahmet. The Sultan watched the festivals from the Ibrahim Paşa Palace which was collapsed afterwards. On the square there are the Obelisk, Yılanlı Sütun and Örme Sütun. This festival area that we met in surnames is the At meydanı which was in the mind of the miniaturist. Okmeydanı was the place which was choosen for the day part of the festival. An important part of the day festivals were in Beach Palace in Haliç. This palace could be the Aynalıkavak Beach Palace or Dockyard Beach Palace Festival players  According to the writings of Evliya Çelebi, “At the time of a circumcision feast of a şehzade or a conquest celebration, singers, musicians, dancers, artists, drummers, acrobats, jugglers, comedians for a day or two or five come and dance.” Beside the public, western wanderers came and joined the parades Pand admired it. People didn't come here just to watch; artisans, played suitable plays with the festival as they exhibit their works, janissaries showed their skills and the dock sergeants and nudes joined them. Beside the hundreds of skilled men, shell masters, light painters, dervishes, writers and the painters also the skilled ones who came to watch the festival showed their skills "… Jews were also important in these Turkish festivals. In almost every festival, a Jewish Branch took place at least. They came out in the war plays, ride horses in a Spanish method, imitated some animals. In 1582, we come across a show like this. In this show, six Jews imitated a turtle. At the same time, they made huge puppets and played. We watch Jews join the parade with their huge puppets in the festival of II. Mahmut's son Abdülmecit's circumcision feast. Also, dragons, turtles, supernatural animals were carried in this parade.” In this festival, beside the war plays there were also various magicians. A foreign witness said that they were eleven thousand. Why the festivals took place At the Ottoman period the festivals present important information about the civilian life and in the mean time they are very successful works of public relations. By the participation of the foreign statesmen their function got stronger and richer. Those festivals are important sources which have to be searched with their rituals, rules, custom and understandings, order, glitter and brightness, entertainments, skills, artistic works. These festivals are not in the monopole of the palace like the examples in Europe so it became a part of our culture.