Holidays in Turkey
Posted January 23rd, 2009Categories: Foreign Culture, Istanbul, local culture, Team Stories, travel, traveling, turkey, United Planet
Tags: belly dancers, Christmas tree, culture, Dance, fasting, Kurban, luck, Muslims, New Year's, New Year's Eve, Ramadan, ritual, Taksim Square, turkey
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Post written by Elif, United Planet Team member.
In Turkey, we celebrate New Year’s but not Christmas. We only have one day of holiday for New Year’s Day. However, shops put out everything for New Year’s at the start of December. For New Year’s women go to the hairdresser and dress up in red lingerie, which is always thought to bring luck for the whole year! In my workplace all the departments decorate their own Christmas tree and we also have one huge Christmas tree planted in the company’s garden. As a team we draw names to decide who buys a present for whom and hold it secret till the last day. We also hold a New Year’s cocktail party.
On New Year’s Eve we come to work and at night we either have dinner with family or friends and then we generally go to a friends’ house to drink, play bingo or dance. On television there will for sure be good shows with belly dancers dancing for the New Year. Taksim Square is also a popular spot for locals to celebrate the New Year. As with the rest of the world, we count back from 10 before midnight on New Year’s Eve.
In December we have Kurban (which means “to sacrifice”). On this religious holiday, people sacrifice animals for God. This is actually a symbol of helping the poor, because those meats are generally served to poor people. Sacrificing animals is one ritual that is very old but nowadays people prefer to donate that money to NGO’s instead. Kurban is full of dinners with different meat dishes to celebrate the end of a month’s period of fasting—a tradition practiced to make Muslims understand the situation of the poor when they cannot find food. On this holiday, a man walks the streets at 5 a.m. in the morning playing the drum to wake people up to eat, since they will be fasting all day from dawn to dusk. In the evening a cannonball is fired to give a sign to people that it is ok to stop fasting and eat. This is followed by prayer in the mosque. (Only men go to pray in the mosque for this religious ritual.)
After that we have a religious holiday called Ramadan, also known as “Candy Holiday”: Relatives visit each other to celebrate this religious day and the kids are given candies and a lot of wonderful desserts are served all day long. These religious holidays are almost always a means of coming together with your loved ones and family members—a tradition that is highly valued by the older generations in Turkey. To forget to visit your grandparents on a religious holiday and kiss their hands is almost unthinkable.
Kissing hands is a ritual done with the old people. You hold their hand, raise it to the air, bend over to kiss it and then put that hand to your forehead. The good thing is that when you kiss an old person’s hand, he/she generally gives you money. This is more commonly practiced with children who do not yet have a job!
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May 26th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
[...] Holidays in Turkey United Planet Blog Posted by root 23 hours ago (http://www.unitedplanet.org) In turkey we celebrate new year but not christmas we only have one day of holiday for new you can comment below or link to this permanent url from your own site united planet all rights reserved powered by wordpress Discuss | Bury | News | holidays in turkey united planet blog [...]
November 1st, 2009 at 8:07 am
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January 7th, 2010 at 5:41 am
The reason why Turkey has been voted the top of ten holiday destinations by British holidaymakers for 2009 is simple. It allows you to save money thank to the exchange on foreign currency. Foreign exchange rates can variate widely, the tip is to buy in advance the foreign currency, so you know how much you holiday is going to cost you. Currently ExchangeRates are quite favourable and this make Turkey one of the cheapest destinations of the Mediterranean. It is certainly one of the most stunning destination in the Mediterranean region, rich of history and traditions. This is the right time to plan and book your holiday there. Planning in advance might give you access to good deals and discounts. There are breathtaking landscapes and miles of sandy beaches such as Butterfly Valley Beach (the only accessible by boat) or the impressive Kidrak Beach. Göcek, a small southern town in Muğla’s Fethiye area, is a residential area mainly concentrated along the coastal line called Göcek Bay inside the Fethiye Gulf that is being rediscovered by many tourists for its natural beauty and great boating options. Surrounded by high mountains on three sides, Göcek is a unique, obscure retreat. Göcek has to offer to its visitors a number of marvelous bays and small islands, the most famous ones being Gobun or Mağaralı Bay, Cleopatra Hamamı, and the Tersane and Yassı islands, located between Kapıdağ Peninsula and the Göcek Gulf.
In addition, there is a wide range of outdoor activities, there is plenty to do for all the family members! Furthermore, if you want to relax and make the most of your time there are hotels and resorts that now offer very competitive rates, all inclusive packages and delicious food, as well as excellent service and comforts. Take a look at CheapAccommodationsinTurkey, and start planning your holiday today
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:34 am
Between the 26th of February and the 13th of March, the XIV Jerez Flamenco Festival, will be held in this Andalusian city bringing some of the world’s greatest flamenco artists on several day shows, workshops, exhibitions, and other activities . For informations http://www.spain.info