🌿Hıdırellez (Spring Festival)

About Hıdırellez (Spring Festival)

Hıdırellez is one of Turkey's most beloved folk festivals, marking the arrival of spring on the night of May 5 into May 6. Its name blends Hızır (Al-Khidr) and İlyas (Elijah), two immortal figures of folk belief who are said to meet on Earth on this night — Hızır bringing help and abundance on land, İlyas watching over the waters. In the traditional folk calendar, May 6 opens the warm "Days of Hızır" that run until November 8.

Celebrations centre on wishes and renewal. People write or draw their hopes — a house, a car, a marriage — and tie them to rose bushes or leave them by water, trusting Hızır to make them come true. Families clean their homes, picnic in green spaces and by rivers, jump over small bonfires for luck and health, and float wishes on the water. The festival is shared across Turkey and the wider Balkans and Middle East, and UNESCO inscribed it on its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2017.

Hıdırellez falls on the fixed folk date of May 6, with festivities beginning the evening of May 5, so it can occur on any day of the week. The countdown above tracks the days, hours and minutes until May 6 in your own timezone. Add it to your own page to count down to the night of wishes and the start of summer.