The Mevlana festival (Whirling Dervishes)

What: The hyp­not­ic Whirling Dervish­es are the hall­mark of Konya’s Mevlana Fes­ti­val, where in com­mem­o­ra­tion of the life, teach­ings and death of Jalal ad-Din Rumi, Konya’s revered Islam­ic the­olo­gian, the city of Konya hosts an eleven-day series of cer­e­monies and cel­e­bra­tions fea­tur­ing the mes­meris­ing and dis­tinc­tive hyp­not­ic Whirling Dervish­es dance.

The dance itself will be viewed by hun­dreds of thou­sands of spec­ta­tors over the course of the fes­ti­val and sees each Whirling Dervish­es per­former don large coun­cil hats rep­re­sent­ing death and the icon­ic large white skirts and over the course of one hour per­form­ing a spell­bind­ing con­tin­u­ous and con­trolled spin­ning move­ment set to tra­di­tion­al music that has the abil­i­ty to take par­tic­i­pants to a high­er spir­i­tu­al con­scious­ness and hyper­con­scious state.

When: The Mevlana fes­ti­val is cel­e­brat­ed every year between the 7th and 17th of Decem­ber with dance per­for­mances tak­ing place each evening along­side

Where: While Whirling Dervish­es per­for­mances take place all over Turkey and in par­tic­u­lar in the tourist hotspots of Istan­bul and Ankara, for the true Mevlana and Whirling Dervish fes­ti­val head to the Ana­to­lian city of Konya, birth­place of both the dance and the loca­tion of Jalal ad-Din Rumi’s tomb . With the best place to catch the dances in Konya being at the Mevlana Cul­tur­al Cen­tre near the train sta­tion.

Dura­tion: The fes­ti­val itself lasts for 11 days in Decem­ber, with each day fea­tur­ing music and danc­ing and an evening Whirling Dervish­es per­for­mance which starts at 7pm (gates open at 6:30) and lasts for just over a hour.

Tick­ets:  Tick­ets are avail­able on the day or a few days in advance from the tick­et offices at Mevlana Cul­tur­al Cen­tre and in the town of Konya. With tick­et prices start­ing at 15 Turk­ish Lire.

Need to Know: AS the fes­ti­val is tra­di­tion­al and held in Turkey there are a few cul­tur­al rules to be aware of, if female it’s required to wear a head­scarf in the venue and men and women will nor­mal­ly be seat­ed sep­a­rate­ly – it’s also a win­ter fes­ti­val so be sure to wrap up warm !