Last year, I heard about a festival on Istanbul’s Golden Horn full of gypsy bands and all-night dancing; it’s the sort of mad event that I can’t resist. At the time, I was planning to return from Amsterdam and be back in Istanbul early enough that evening to go to the festival.
Well, I never made it out of the airport.
As I sat through those 24 hours of purgatory, I tried not to think about what I was missing… but there wasn’t much to distract me. I wallowed in it.
A year later, to my mild surprise, I’m still in Istanbul. Finally I’d have a chance to right this wrong and attend the festival.
Hidirellez is a spring festival celebrated throughout the Turkic world on the evening of May 5th. In Istanbul, revelers from all over the city gather in the Ahirkapi neighborhood, located a short 7-minute walk from the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. It’s mostly quiet in the neighborhood, until you approach the slight slope down to Kesterci Hakka Sokak and the relentless beat of drums and reedy whine of horns starts to reverberate in the air. There is no doubt that you’ve found the right place.
Roving groups of musicians play loudly, attempting to drown each other out, while girls wearing belly dancing bangles and flower crowns shake and spin. Men form tight circle and do traditional dances. And all around them, happy people nosh on grilled sausage sandwiches or homemade stuffed grape leaves, drink beer, and photograph the festivities from all angles. It starts wild and becomes raucous. As night falls, the streets are jammed tight and the camaraderie buzzes through the crowd, as long as you aren’t in somebody’s way– then you will be shoved.
The energy of Hidirellez reminded me of the camel wrestling festival I attended in Selcuk– the crazy music, the smoke of grilled sucuk sausages, the dizzy dancing. It’s hard not to smile in the middle of such a buzz.
I went early, when the streets still had enough space to be maneuvered, and left when the festival reached critical crushing capacity. It was perfect; I could explore early in the evening, before the narrow streets became completely choked with celebration. Officially, the party goes from 6:30pm until 11pm, but in reality it rolls on all night.
Istanbul is a city of neighborhoods and it’s thrilling to discover this tradition nestled in Ahirkapi– a raucous evening once a year, easy to miss, but seriously unmissable.
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