Istanbul, day by day

Istanbul's tracked calendar is one of the deepest on Dayfari: 158 listings across 70 venues, and unusually, it is nearly as much a theatre calendar as a music one (86 music listings against 57 live theatre and 13 comedy). The open-air Harbiye Cemil Topuzlu theatre and Cafe Theatre Koşuyolu lead the venue table with 8 listings each, followed by the Trump Stage with 7, the Paribu Vadi open-air stage with 6, Blind İstanbul with 5 and the Dada Salon Kabarett with 4. Two open-air stages in the top six tells you how this city spends its evenings when the weather allows.

Fifty-seven theatre listings is a number most capitals on this site cannot match, and it shapes how the page should be read: check the theatre rows, not just the gigs. Istanbul also stands alone in its region here; the nearest other covered city is Ankara, 351 km away. The weekend digest leads the page, the month view carries the long tail, and both re-issue as the venues publish.