Cadılar Bayramı

Cadılar Bayramı, on 31 October, is not a traditional Turkish holiday or a public day off, but in Istanbul, İzmir, and Ankara it has become a visible night out for university students and young adults. Bars, clubs, and event spaces in areas such as Beyoğlu and Kadıköy in Istanbul, Alsancak in İzmir, and central nightlife districts in Ankara advertise costume parties, DJ sets, and entrance-ticket events for the last weekend of October or the night itself. The day is otherwise normal: people go to work or class, then meet friends after dark, often changing into costumes in the evening. Social media announcements, table reservations, and costume planning usually start days or weeks earlier.

Inside these parties, the look is usually more important than any fixed ritual. Venues decorate entrances and photo corners with pumpkins, fake spider webs, skeletons, orange lights, and horror-film posters, and many run costume competitions with prizes. Witches, vampires, zombies, devils, and pop-culture characters are common outfits, especially in student neighborhoods and at university club events. Cafés and bars may add black-and-orange cocktails, Halloween cupcakes, or themed cookies, but there is no standard Turkish holiday food for the night. Children going door to door for trick-or-treating is still limited and much less common than in the US; in Turkey the main experience is an evening costume party that often continues past midnight.

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