Next: 5 to 6 May 2027
Hıdırellez
A spring festival of Turkey and the Balkans, when wishes are tied to a rose bush overnight.
What happens
Hıdırellez marks the night when, by tradition, the holy figures Hızır and İlyas meet on earth and spring truly begins. It is kept on the evening of 5 May and the day of 6 May in Turkey and by Muslim and Roma communities across the Balkans, where it is also called Ederlezi. People write or draw a wish, a house or a child or good health, and hang it on a rose bush or bury it at its root. The next morning the wishes are collected and put into running water.
The flowers
More flowers and customs of Hıdırellez
Original text by the Phool desk, written with AI assistance. Background: "Hıdırellez" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Rose: User:Tigerente, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wreath: Олександр Майоров, Майкл Ендрюс, Світлана Буланова, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hıdırellez: Правительство Республики Крым, CC BY 4.0, source