Religious Holidays
The dates vary from year to year as they are based on a lunar calendar.

Seker Bayrami (Festival of Sugar) is usually celebrated in February and is a 3-day national festival marking the end of the Moslem holy month of Ramazan (Ramadan). It is a happy time spent socializing and exchanging gifts of Turkish delight and other sweets.

Kurban Bayrami is usually celebrated in April and is the most important religious holiday, commemorating the near sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham. God spared Isaac, allowing a lamb to be sacrificed instead. Throughout the country, those who can afford it sacrifice an animal in memory of this event and reserve a portion of the meat for the needy.

Secular Holidays
April

Mesir Macunu

The Mesir Macunu (Power Gum) Festival in Manisa commemorates the curative power of a honeyed, many-spiced elixir that restored the health of Ottoman Sultan Suleyman’s mother over 400 years ago. The elixir contains 41 spices (The number 41 holds a mystical significance to the Turkish people; the successful completion of certain events is commonly marked by saying a special phrase 41 times.) When cured, the Sultan’s mother insisted that citizens of Manisa be given this concoction at her expense. Today’s festival includes actors in period costumes staging its production. Bottles of the elixir are for sale, and the suggested dosage is 3 spoonfuls a day to eliminate most ailments.

June
Strawberry Festival in Bartin to celebrate the harvesting of the strawberry crop.
International Wine Festival in Urgup, the centre of a successful wine producing region. Several small wineries in Cappadocia also hold this wine tasting event.

July
Apricot Festival in Malatya, Turkey’s apricot capital, to celebrate the harvesting of the crop.

August
Mengen (Bolu) Chef’s Festival. Turkish chefs regale local and foreign travel writers and the press with samples of Turkish gastronomical delights.

September
Watermelon Festival in Diyarbakir with prizes going to the biggest.