Festival to mark early summer held with dancing and bursts of colour
By Ceylan Hassan
Hıdırellez Spring festival took place over the weekend, with performances of live music, belly dancing and traditional food and culture stands on Sunday evening at the Cypriot Community Centre.
The event which saw almost over 50 people attend marked the beginning of ‘early summer’ and saw a burst of colour together with dancing and many wishes made on the night.
Organiser and head of ZET productions Zeynep Özden, said: “I want to welcome you all to the second Hıdırellez Festival here in London and thank you all for coming, I really appreciate it and I hope you all have a good time. Thank you again.”
The belly dancers put on a spectacular show, as they wowed the audience with curved daggers and perfect choreography; it was definitely the most popular performance of the night.
Zeynep Özden, who spoke to Londra Gazete also said: “The night wasn’t busy as we liked it to be, but it was fun and next year hope to have an open-air festival celebration with free entry. We look forward to celebrating it once again next May.”
People made their wishes by tightly tying colourful ribbons onto the branches of the wish trees around the room.
Some also ran towards an artificial fire, making their wish as they jumped over it. In Turkish culture it is believed that Prophet Hizir’s spirit wanders around on this night and then makes the wishes come true.
Calligraphy art by expert Nilgun Baklacı also proved very popular with body art and personalisations on paper and key-rings.
Click here for Ceylan Hassan’s personal account of the day
