Şeb-i Arus — Mevlana ceremonies (turning derviches)
Traditional and popular parties · Konya, Turkey
The festival
Şeb-i Arûs, the "night of weddings": for Mevlâna Jalaluddin Rumi, his death, on December 17, 1273 in Konya, was a union with the Divine, to be celebrated and not to be wept. Every year, from December 7 to 17, Konya hosts the international ceremonies of commemoration: at the Mevlana Cultural Centre, the turning dervishes perform the soma, prayer in motion to the sound of the ney, ceremony inscribed by UNESCO with intangible cultural heritage.
Lectures, poetry readings and exhibitions extend these ten days when visitors from all over the world come to listen to the silence turn.
Good to know
Existence and fixed dates verified: official portal of tourism Go Türkiye (open) — Şeb-i Arrived every year in December, especially on December 17, at the Mevlana Cultural Centre in Konya, soma ceremonies with UNESCO heritage. Documented edition: 752nd anniversary, from December 7 to 17, 2025, theme "Time for Peace", organized with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the prefecture and the metropolitan municipality of Konya (News Central Asia, in cooperation with the Embassy of Türkiye). Recurrent fixed dates, not an announcement 2027: "Obsent period" with exact dates, like the previous Abu Simbel.