Turkey Event Calendar

The festivals worth planning a trip around. Dates follow their traditional pattern; confirm the exact days before booking travel.

Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival

Edirne, Marmara · Late June to early July, every year

Kırkpınar is the world's oldest continuously running sporting competition: oil wrestling (yağlı güreş) held near Edirne since 1360, and on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list since 2010. Wrestlers (pehlivans) douse themselves in olive oil and grapple in leather kispet trousers on the grass arena.

The festival runs about a week, with the chief-wrestler (başpehlivan) finals at the end. It is part sport, part folk festival: food stalls, music and the ceremonial parade of wrestlers.

The courtyard of the Mevlana Museum, Konya

Şeb-i Arus

Konya, Central Anatolia · December 7 to 17, every year

Şeb-i Arus, the 'wedding night', commemorates the death of Rumi (Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi) on December 17, 1273: his reunion with the divine. Konya hosts ten days of ceremonies, concerts, exhibitions and Sufi music, centred on the whirling dervish (sema) ceremonies.

The sema itself is on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The December ceremonies are the most intense of the year; book Konya accommodation early.

The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque), Istanbul

Istanbul Film Festival

Istanbul, Marmara · April, every year

Turkey's oldest film festival, run by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) since 1982. About ten days of Turkish and international cinema across Beyoğlu's cinemas, with the Golden Tulip (Altın Lale) as the top prize.

Screenings cluster around İstiklal Street; popular sessions sell out, so book tickets online a few days ahead.

Istanbul Music Festival

Istanbul, Marmara · June, every year

İKSV's classical music festival, running since 1973: international orchestras and soloists in Istanbul's historic venues, from the Atatürk Cultural Centre to Hagia Eirene and the Grand Bazaar itself.

The festival uses the city's heritage as its concert halls: a concert in a 6th-century church is the standard, not the exception.

Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival

Antalya, Mediterranean · October, every year

Turkey's most established film festival, running since 1964: the national cinema competition, with the closing ceremony traditionally held in the ancient theatre of Aspendos.

The festival opens with a parade through Antalya and closes under the stars at Aspendos, one of the great festival settings in world cinema.

The Kaleiçi walls above the old harbour, Antalya

Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival

Aspendos, near Antalya · September, every year (the 2026 edition ran September 12-26; earlier editions were in June)

Opera and ballet in the world's best-preserved Roman theatre: the Turkish State Opera and Ballet has run this festival at Aspendos since 1994, with international companies performing Aida, Carmen, Swan Lake and the rest.

Two thousand years of acoustics do the work: the theatre seats thousands with no amplification. Performances start after dark; bring something warm for the stone seats.

Istanbul Jazz Festival

Istanbul, Marmara · July, every year

İKSV's summer music festival, running since 1994: jazz, rock, pop and world music across Istanbul's historic venues, from Hagia Eirene and the Archaeological Museums to ferries, parks and the streets of Beyoğlu.

Around 30 to 40 concerts over two weeks; the free park concerts and the Vitrin showcase of Turkish bands are the local favourites.

Istanbul Biennial

Istanbul, Marmara · September to November, every odd year

Turkey's premier contemporary art event, run by İKSV since 1987: a two-month exhibition spread across Istanbul's museums, former warehouses and historic buildings, with a new curator and theme each edition.

Admission to the main venues is usually free, and the biennial turns the whole city into the gallery for the autumn.

Istanbul Marathon

Istanbul, Marmara · November, every year

The world's only intercontinental marathon: the course starts on the Asian side, crosses the Bosphorus Bridge into Europe, and finishes in Sultanahmet. Running since 1979.

There are 15K and 8K public runs alongside the full marathon, and crossing the bridge on foot is the part everyone photographs.

İzmir International Fair

İzmir, Aegean · Late August to early September, every year

Turkey's oldest trade fair, running since 1936 in Kültürpark: ten days of exhibitions, concerts and street food that the whole city treats as its annual festival.

The evening concerts in the fairground are the draw for visitors; the daytime is for the trade halls and the Kültürpark gardens.

Mesir Macunu Festival

Manisa, Aegean · March 21 to 24, every year

Manisa's 500-year-old spring festival, on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list since 2012: a healing paste of 41 spices is blessed and scattered from the domes and minaret of the Sultan Mosque to thousands of people competing to catch it.

The paste commemorates the recovery of Hafsa Sultan, mother of Süleyman the Magnificent; catching a piece is said to bring marriage, work or children within the year.

International Troy Festival

Çanakkale, Marmara · August, every year

Çanakkale's summer arts festival, running since 1963: concerts, theatre and exhibitions across the city, with the ancient city of Troy itself as the backdrop for the headline nights.

One of Turkey's longest-running festivals, and the best reason to be on the Dardanelles in August.

Bodrum harbour and marina from the castle side

Bodrum International Ballet Festival

Bodrum, Aegean · July to August, every year

Turkey's only ballet festival, run by the State Opera and Ballet since 2002: Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Carmen and guest companies performing in the open-air moat theatre of Bodrum Castle, all starting at 21:45.

Performances sell out days ahead; book online and arrive early for the castle sunset.

Hacı Bektaş Veli Commemoration

Hacıbektaş, Central Anatolia · August 16 to 18, every year

The annual gathering at the shrine of Hacı Bektaş Veli, the 13th-century mystic of the Alevi-Bektashi tradition: three days of semah ceremonies, folk music and pilgrimage in the small town near Cappadocia.

Hundreds of thousands attend; the town's museum (the former dergah) is the spiritual centre of the events.

GastroAntep Gastronomy Festival

Gaziantep, Southeastern Anatolia · September, every year

The festival of the UNESCO City of Gastronomy, running since 2018: nine days of chef workshops, harvests, competitions and tastings across Gaziantep, co-organised by the metropolitan municipality and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

It opens with a procession from the castle through the Coppersmiths' Bazaar; the pistachio harvest and the baklava workshops are the anchors.

Adana kebap being prepared on the skewer

Adana Orange Blossom Carnival

Adana, Mediterranean · April, every year

Turkey's first street carnival, running since 2013: the orange trees bloom, the city closes its streets, and hundreds of thousands join the costume parade, concerts and riverside food stalls.

It is also the best excuse to eat Adana kebap at its source, in the city that invented it.

Kafkasör Culture and Arts Festival

Artvin, Black Sea · Late June to early July, every year

The highland festival of the Black Sea, running since the early 1980s on the Kafkasör plateau above Artvin: bull wrestling (boğa güreşleri) in the arena, folk dancing, and the yayla (highland) culture of the Kaçkar foothills.

The wrestling bouts are the headline; the horon dances and the plateau picnics fill the rest of the long summer days.

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