Babylon

Babylon is Istanbul's best-known live music venue. It opened in 1999 in Asmalımescit, in Beyoğlu, and quickly became the city's leading stage for adventurous live music, before moving in 2015 to Yapı Kredi bomontiada, a cultural complex in the converted buildings of the historic Bomonti beer factory in Şişli. The venue says it welcomes around 29,000 music lovers each year.

The programme is broad, taking in jazz, rock, electronic, world music and more, and mixing Turkish acts with international artists. Recent seasons have featured names such as the Sun Ra Arkestra and the Detroit house producer Moodymann, and the 2024 season alone included 142 events. The bookings tend towards the creative and the cult rather than the mainstream, which is why the venue has kept its loyal audience across more than two decades.

Babylon also runs Babylon Soundgarden, a summer festival held in a forest setting outside the city, which began in Çeşme on the Aegean coast in 2011. If you are visiting Istanbul in summer, check whether the festival dates coincide with your trip. The main venue's programme is busiest from autumn to spring, so a visit between October and May gives the widest choice of concerts. Many shows start late by British standards, and bomontiada itself, with its restored brewery buildings, is an attractive place to spend the hours before a concert, so plan your evening around a later dinner and check the door and stage times on the ticket.

Tickets for popular concerts sell out, so check the programme on the website and book in advance. Arrive early to get a good spot near the stage. There is a bar inside, and bomontiada has restaurants, cafés and bars around the same courtyard, so you can have dinner or a drink before the show without leaving the complex.

Babylon suits music lovers, solo concert-goers, groups of friends and anyone wanting a night out with Istanbul's younger, creative crowd. The venue is in Bomonti, north of Taksim, a short taxi ride from Beyoğlu or about 15 minutes' walk from Osmanbey metro station on the M2 line. TURK Fatih Tutak is nearby if you want to combine a concert with a special dinner, and Nişantaşı's shops and cafés are a short ride away.