Eid al-Fitr in Turkey 2027: Dates, Istanbul During the Holiday and Events

Eid al-Fitr in Turkey in 2027 falls on 9, 10 and 11 March, after a month of Ramadan that begins on 8 February. In Turkey the holiday is called Ramazan Bayramı, and in some circles also Şeker Bayramı, the "sugar holiday". By law the public holiday starts at 13:00 on the eve, 8 March, and runs for three and a half days.

This guide covers the 2027 dates, what the holiday means, how Ramadan and Eid feel in Istanbul, what is open during the holiday, how to get around, and how to plan an iftar dinner or a company event around it. For the rest of the year's calendar, see our guide to festivals in Istanbul and Turkey.

Last updated: September 2026. Dates follow the official calendar of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). Where a rule or figure comes from a single year, we give the year.

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Contents

1. Eid al-Fitr in Turkey 2027: the dates and the short answer
2. What Ramazan Bayramı is: two names, one holiday
3. Ramadan in Istanbul: the month before Eid
4. How Turks celebrate the three days of Eid
5. Istanbul during Eid al-Fitr: what is open and what is not
6. Getting around and where to stay
7. Eid al-Adha: the other holiday in 2027
8. Events around Ramadan and Eid: iftar dinners and company programmes

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1. Eid al-Fitr in Turkey 2027: the dates and the short answer

Here are the dates that matter, from the official 2027 calendar of Diyanet.

The 2027 dates

How long the public holiday lasts

Under Turkey's law on national and public holidays, the Eid al-Fitr holiday begins at 13:00 on the eve and lasts three and a half days. In 2027 that means from Monday 8 March at 13:00 until the end of Thursday 11 March. If you are planning travel or a business trip around those days, check official announcements closer to the date for any additional days off.

Why the date moves every year

The Islamic calendar follows the moon, and a lunar year is about 11 days shorter than a solar year. So Ramadan and both Eids move through the seasons. In 2026, Eid al-Fitr fell on 20 to 22 March; in 2027 it falls on 9 to 11 March, 11 days earlier.

2. What Ramazan Bayramı is: two names, one holiday

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Ramadan fast.

Two names

Its Arabic name is ʿīd al-fiṭr, in English also written Eid ul-Fitr. In Turkey it is Ramazan Bayramı, literally the Ramadan feast. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, published by Turkey's Diyanet Foundation, some circles also call it Şeker Bayramı, probably because of the long tradition of offering sweets, candy and Turkish delight during the holiday.

Where the holiday comes from

According to the same encyclopaedia, the Ramadan fast was first made obligatory in the second year after the Hijra, and those who had fasted through the month then celebrated the first three days of the next month, Shawwal, as a holiday. That is still the shape of it: a month of fasting, then three days of celebration.

The morning of Eid

The holiday begins with the Eid prayer, held in congregation once the sun has risen. Eating dates before the prayer is regarded as Sunnah. The fitra, a charity payment, is due at the end of Ramadan, before the holiday.

3. Ramadan in Istanbul: the month before Eid

For a visitor, Ramadan is as interesting as Eid itself, with evenings organised around iftar at sunset.

Iftar and sahur

Each day's fast ends at sunset with iftar, the evening meal, and begins again at dawn, after sahur. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the customs that grew up around the month are still alive in different forms: iftar invitations, more help for people in need, drummers who walk the streets before dawn singing verses to wake people for sahur, evening entertainment on Ramadan nights, and foods made only for this month. Teravih, the special night prayer, is also held only during Ramadan.

Mahya: words of light between minarets

One of the most typical Istanbul sights of Ramadan is the mahya, a message written in lights and strung between the minarets of a mosque. The custom is old: a German traveller, Schweigger, who came to Istanbul in 1578, depicted mahya between minarets, and in February 1588 Sultan Murad III ordered minarets to be lit with lamps. In 1722 the grand vizier Nevşehirli Damad İbrahim Pasha ordered a mahya on every imperial mosque. Edirne and Bursa kept the tradition as well.

Illuminated mosque with six minarets at night, with a line of lit writing strung between two minarets and city lights along the water behind

Iftar at the palace

The Ottoman court had its own iftar customs. After an iftar at the palace, guests received gifts prepared in advance, such as watches or cigarette cases, handed out in the sultan's name as diş kirası, literally "tooth rent". It is a small detail, and a reminder that an iftar invitation has long been more than a meal.

Gilded canopy on slender columns, with tall trees beside it and a hillside city across the water behind

4. How Turks celebrate the three days of Eid

Eid in Turkey is a holiday of visits. The days are spent calling on family, neighbours and friends, greeting each other and sharing food.

Bayramlaşmak: the holiday greeting

Visiting and greeting each other has its own word, bayramlaşmak. Within the family, it means kissing an elder's hand and touching it to your forehead, a sign of respect.

Sweets, cologne and pocket money

Children who kiss their elders' hands are given pocket money, harçlık, and are offered sweets. Guests are offered cologne, kolonya, one of the fixtures of Turkish hospitality. New clothes, bayramlık, are bought days before and kept to be worn on the holiday.

Cubes of white and pink Turkish delight dusted with powdered sugar, in close-up

What this means for visitors

If you are invited to a home during the holiday, sweets are a gift in the spirit of the holiday's other name. Expect to be offered cologne and something sweet. Families are busy with visits during these days, so business meetings are best kept for the week before or after.

5. Istanbul during Eid al-Fitr: what is open and what is not

A few rules are worth knowing before you plan Eid al-Fitr in Istanbul.

Museums

Museums and archaeological sites run by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism follow a holiday schedule. During Eid al-Adha in 2026, the Ministry published a list of sites that stayed open throughout, and said that the museums and sites not on that list would be closed on the first day of the holiday until noon, then open as usual. Check the Ministry's announcement for the holiday you are travelling in.

Mosques

On the morning of Eid, mosques hold the holiday prayer after sunrise. The Sultanahmet Mosque (the Blue Mosque) is open to visitors from 08:30 to 19:00 in summer and 08:30 to 17:00 in winter, and closes to visitors around the noon and afternoon prayers, from 30 minutes before the call to prayer until 15 minutes after the prayer ends. Its official visitor guide gives no separate holiday hours, so plan visits for the middle of the morning or later in the afternoon, and dress for a mosque.

Shops and markets

Holiday opening hours of shops and markets, including the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar, are worth checking before you go.

6. Getting around and where to stay

The examples below are from 2026.

Public transport in Istanbul

During Eid al-Fitr in 2026, from 20 to 22 March, Istanbul's public transport was free for holders of personalised İstanbulkart cards, according to the municipality. If you are visiting, keep your İstanbulkart topped up and check the municipality's announcement.

Motorways and bridges

For Eid al-Adha in 2026, motorways and bridges run by the General Directorate of Highways were free by a presidential decision. That decision is taken separately for each holiday, so do not count on it in advance.

Hotels

During Eid al-Adha in 2026, a tour operator reported occupancy above 90 percent in many regions and domestic prices about 30 percent higher than a year earlier; the report gave no separate figure for Istanbul. For a holiday week, book rooms early, and for groups, block them early. Our hotel accommodation team handles room blocks for events and visiting groups.

7. Eid al-Adha: the other holiday in 2027

Turkey has two religious holidays. Eid al-Adha, Kurban Bayramı, is the longer one.

Eid al-Adha 2027 dates

In 2027 the eve of Eid al-Adha falls on Saturday 15 May, and the holiday runs from Sunday 16 to Wednesday 19 May. By law it begins at 13:00 on the eve and lasts four and a half days.

How the two holidays differ

Eid al-Fitr closes a month of fasting and centres on sweets and visits. Eid al-Adha is the feast of sacrifice, and its public holiday is a day longer. If you are planning events in spring 2027, both weeks belong on the calendar: 8 to 11 March and 15 to 19 May.

8. Events around Ramadan and Eid: iftar dinners and company programmes

Ramadan and Eid change what a good event looks like. For companies with Muslim guests or staff, the month is not a time to avoid, but a time to plan differently.

The iftar dinner

In Ramadan, an iftar dinner can replace a gala. As we note in our guide to gala dinners in Istanbul, a company with many Muslim guests may prefer an iftar that month to a gala with a bar and a dance floor. An iftar has its own rules: it starts at sunset, the first minutes belong to breaking the fast, and the programme comes after the meal, not before. Hotel iftar menus in Istanbul can be expensive: in Ramadan 2026, the iftar menu at the Tuğra restaurant of the Çırağan Palace Kempinski was 7,800 Turkish lira per person, up from 6,000 lira a year earlier.

Timing company events around the holiday week

Conferences, launches and incentive trips are easier to plan when they avoid the holiday itself. In our experience, local crews and suppliers are harder to book in the holiday week, and guests based in Turkey spend it with family. Our congress organisation guide counts both religious holiday weeks among the dates to avoid for a congress, and our corporate event planning guide covers transfers and accommodation for visiting guests. If the date cannot move, plan the programme with the holiday rather than against it: a morning start after the prayer, a family-friendly afternoon, and extra time for transfers.

Guests from abroad

For guests from the Gulf and other Muslim-majority countries, Eid is a holiday at home too, so a programme for them in Istanbul is built around it: transfers planned around mosque times, meals timed to the holiday, and a host who knows which places are open on which day. Our corporate event management team plans iftar dinners and holiday programmes as part of larger events.

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Planning an Event Around Ramadan or Eid

Ramadan and Eid move every year, so the first step is the calendar: fix your dates against 8 February to 11 March 2027 before you book anything else. We plan iftar dinners, company programmes and festivals and cultural events in Istanbul. See the scale of events we produce on our projects page, or contact us with your dates and guest count.