Splashes of colour spreads across the small hall, as pink, red, green, purple and multi-coloured drapes of material hung from wall to wall as I looked up. A selection of stands, make a broken semi-circle around the room, with hand-woven crochet pieces to traditional mince-meat filled bulgur wheat balls (whoever made them, they tasted delicious).
The energy is warm and kids run around with face paints and colourful ribbons in their hands. I’m at the Cypriot Community Centre in Wood Green, North London, yet with much effort and hard work, this back hall has been transformed into a festival waiting to happen.
Organiser Zeynep Özden is rushing around greeting guests arriving and making sure everything is running smoothly. I introduce myself and she embraces me with a huge thank you and sincere appreciation for turning up. The festival is yet to start as some people are still arriving and the band is preparing amongst them, I browse each stand and take photos capturing every detail possible.
This is the second Hıdırellez festival and celebration to take place, unfortunately the turn-out isn’t as much as I expected but the entertainment for adults and children are great. Zeynep is called up by band leader where she welcomes and thanks everybody for attending. She truly hopes we have a night we enjoy.
Honestly, I have a great time, the band’s lead singer even dances with some of the audience. The belly-dancers are most certainly my highlight of the night, they are so confident and pleased to be there it shows through the smiles and dancing. We even have a dance with them after their performance and they complement us on our moves too. It’s a fun night and celebration as ladies, children and gentlemen makes their wishes to mark Hıdırellez. Some jump over the artificial fire, some tightly tie colourful ribbons around the wish trees and some let off flying lanterns into the night.
Short but sweet and overall a lovely experience to bring the Turkish community together for this celebration…
So, what is Hıdırellez?
The Hıdırellez Festival is observed in Turkey every 6 May. It is marked as the day that two prophets, Hızır and İlyas, met each other on Earth, and the holiday also is known as Ruz-I Hızır (day of Hızır). The word Hıdırellez is a fusing of the two names. The festival is a joyous celebration of the coming of spring.
The customs associated with it probably derive from various eastern Mediterranean traditions, including Mesopotamian, Anatolian, and pre-Islamic central-Asian Turkish. All of these cultures have numerous, age-old rituals and ceremonies associated with the renewal and rebirth of spring.
Many Turks believe that Hızır drank the water of life and is immortal, and that he is able to bestow people with health, happiness, and abundance. He is a symbol of new life, and in some parts of Turkey, people offer sacrifices and votive offerings “for the sake of Hızır” to make their prayers and wishes come true.
I look forward to seeing you all at next year’s festival!