Determining the place of culture in the local people's leisure activities: The case of Eskişehir

The main purpose of this study is to reveal how the cultural values of Eskişehir shape the participation of local people in leisure activities. The study was carried out by making face to face interviews with 27 local people living in Eskişehir and participating in leisure activities in June-July 2020. The interviews were evaluated using the content analysis method. Six main themes and 47 sub-themes were obtained as a result of the content analysis. As a result of the study, it was understood that the most important cultural value of Eskişehir is the bath culture. The bath culture is followed by the coffeehouse culture, Odunpazarı Houses and çibörek. According to the data obtained, it was determined that the local people of Eskişehir mostly participated in social and cultural activities in their leisure time. As for social activities, local people mostly meet and spend time with their friends. The local people mostly go to the baths in terms of cultural activities. Therefore, it has been observed that the cultural values of Eskişehir affect the leisure time habits of the local people in many ways, and that many factors specific to Eskişehir's culture are significantly reflected in the leisure activities of the people. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations for the literature and for tourism and recreation enterprises and local administrations were presented. Keywords: Culture, recreation, local people, Eskişehir