The İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts was founded in 1973 under the leadership of Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı, who had conceived the idea of a festival of the arts, similar to those held annually at certain times of the year in a number of European cities, to be held in İstanbul. Thus, the 1st İstanbul Festival was held from 15 June to 15 July 1973, on the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.

From its first inception the İstanbul Festival has aimed at including in its programmes the finest examples of artistic creativity in all disciplines of art from both Turkey and abroad, as well as seminars, conferences and lectures. The İstanbul Festival was accredited as a member of the European Festivals Association. In 27 years, the Festival has hosted world renowned artists & groups from La Scala Philharmonic (Muti), New York Philharmonic (Mehta & Masur) to Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Sawallisch); from Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Kremer) to Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Mackerras & Hickox); from Tokyo String Quartet to Hilliard Ensemble; from Aldo Ciccolini to Ivo Pogorelich; from Yehudi Menuhin to Itzhak Perlman; from Julian Lloyd Webber to Mischa Maisky; from Narciso Yepes to Christopher Parkening; from Leyla Gencer to Montserrat Caballé; from Bolshoi Ballet to American Ballet Theatre.

Within the context of the 7th Centennial celebration of the Founding of the Ottoman Empire, Vivaldi's Bajazed opera was selected for an exclusive performance. World famous violinist, director and musicologist Fabio Biondi brought this lengthy opera to a powerful two and a half hour performance. Attracting a great deal of attention, this world premiere version of Bajazed was staged at the Hagia Eireni Museum for the 27th International Music Festival.

From 1984 onwards film screenings included in the International İstanbul Festival programmes began to be organised as a separate activity in April as the International İstanbul Film Festival, and in 1985 one national and one international (Golden Tulip) competitive sections were included in its programme. In 1989, it was officially recognised by FIAPF (Fédération Internationale des Associations des Producteurs de Film) as a "Competitive, Specialised Festival". Beginning from 1996 "Lifetime Achievement" and "Honorary" Awards began to be presented to local and international cineastes, actors and actresses such as Robert Wise, Türkan Şoray, Gillo Pontecorvo, Michelangelo Antonioni, Claude Sautet, Elia Kazan, Peter Greenaway, István Szabo, Muhterem Nur, Faruk Kenç, Bertrand Blier, Jerry Schatzberg and Abbas Kiarostami to name a few.

The theatrical contribution, which had originally formed one branch of the International İstanbul Festival, was re-organised in 1989 as a third regular activity of the İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. The International İstanbul Theatre Festival is held in May, with a programme comprising the finest examples of the works of both foreign and Turkish theatre companies. The Theatre Festival hosted world renowned groups, companies and directors; including Piccolo Teatro Di Milano, Attis Theatre, Berliner Ensemble, Centre Dramatique National d'Orleans, Royal National Theatre, Robert Wilson, Yuri Lyubimov, Janusz Wiesniewski, Stephane Braunschweig, Theodorus Terzopoulos, Heiner Göebbels, Andre Willms, Ian Holm, Diana Rigg, Alla Demidova to name a few. Beginning from 1997 "Honorary Awards" began to be presented and Giorgio Strehler, Yıldız Kenter, Yuri Lyubimov, Melih Cevdet Anday, Necdet Mafi Ayral and Robert Wilson were awarded since then.

Another unique IFCA project of 1999 was realised in cooperation with the renowned Greek Theatre Director Theodoros Terzopoulos. The result of this collaboration was the Heracles Trilogy, which made its world premiere at the 11th International İstanbul Theatre Festival. This project brought Turkish and Greek actors together and was presented within the programme of the Theatre Olympics in Japan.

In 1987 the various national and international exhibitions devoted to the latest trends in contemporary art were discontinued and the 1st İstanbul Biennial was held. The concept of the 2nd International İstanbul Biennial in 1989, coordinated by Beral Madra was "Contemporary Art in Traditional Spaces". The theme of the 3rd International İstanbul Biennial in 1992 was "Production of Cultural Difference" under the direction of Vasıf Kortun. The theme of the 4th International İstanbul Biennial curated by Réne Block was ORIENT/ATION and about 123 artists from 51 countries exhibited their works. The 1997 Biennial's curator, Rosa Martinez chose the theme as "On Life, Beauty, Translation & Other Difficulties". The theme of the 6th International İstanbul Biennial was "The Passion and the Wave" and 56 artists from 32 countries exhibited their works at the 1999 Biennial curated by Paolo Colombo.

Beginning from 1986, a special section was dedicated to jazz within the International İstanbul Festival. From 1994 onwards the event began to be organised as a separate activity. Since then the International İstanbul Jazz Festival hosted many masters of jazz, from Keith Jarrett to Jan Garbarek; from Manhattan Transfer to Wynton Marsalis; from Dizzy Gillespie to Modern Jazz Quartet.
With the announcement of a separate Jazz Festival, the name of the International İstanbul Festival was changed to International İstanbul Music Festival which carries on its activities as a specialised summer festival of classical music, ballet, opera and traditional music.

The İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts which celebrated the 25th year of its establishment in 1997, organises the International İstanbul Film Festival in April, the International İstanbul Theatre Festival in May, the International İstanbul Music Festival in June-July, the International İstanbul Jazz Festival in July and the International İstanbul Biennial in the autumn every two years.

In 1992, the Foundation was awarded the "Trophée Internationale des Arts et de la Culture" by Institut International de Promotion et de Prestige of UNESCO.