Although New Year's Eve is over for 2023, which in Turkey is referred to as Noel, It might be a good idea to learn about how they celebrate it in Turkey.
Noel in Turkey refers to the New Year's Eve and not Christmas! So rather than saying merry Christmas, Turks say iyi noeller, meaning happy noel. But, interestingly enough, Turks do tend to celebrate their "noel" albeit on Dec. 31, in quite a similar fashion as Christmas.
Noel is not an official holiday in Turkey! Instead, Jan 1st is a holiday. You can wish people of Turkey a happy new year on Jan 1st by saying "yeni yılınız kutlu olsun". Most of the shops will be closed on this day, but the food markerts will surely be open and crowded.
New year's traditions in Turkey
Exchanging gifts
Exchanging gifts in Turkey is a tradition. You might even have a surprise guest showing with a gift on their hand. It's hard to know who to give gifts to here because they can come out of the blue, and so it is best advised to be prepared. People of Turkey might gift you a pair of red underwear!!! The red undergarments are considered to be good luck if you put it on at midnight of New Year's Eve.
Playing family games
Families play bingo, milli piyango! it rhymes hell yeah!!! Traditionally, families would roast chestnuts and play bingo all while watching the entertaining line-up and countdowns to midnight that feature on New Year's Eve.
Another tradition is buying a lottery ticket for the grand milli piyango draw that takes place live on TV. A single ticket is 200TL, 100TL for half a ticket and 50TL for a quarter ticket. This year the price was 200 million TL!
Glitzy galas, parties, performances
If you want to go out on New Year's Eve on Turkey, you should know that many venues host special dinners or parties. Most restaurants will have a special menu for New Year's Eve. Many hotels will also have full-blown galas on this day. This includes music performance and dinner of course, for a pricey ticket.
Municipalities also host parties in main squares with concerts and celebrations to ring in the New Year.
Newest noel craze
In Istanbul, a number of multiple-day New Year's fairs will be running this week. These events can include stands, attractions and activities for kids such as ice-skating rings and performances by popular bands. Albeit a newer concept and way to celebrate the New Year, from the New Year's town for kids in Maçka, Beylikdüzü's New Year's Street, to Istanbul Wonder Village in Küçükçiftlik Parkı, and a hipster holiday market at Müze Gazhane, there are a variety of options to gift shop, watch musical performances and celebrate at Türkiye's new-wave "noel" markets.
Noel in Turkey refers to the New Year's Eve and not Christmas! So rather than saying merry Christmas, Turks say iyi noeller, meaning happy noel. But, interestingly enough, Turks do tend to celebrate their "noel" albeit on Dec. 31, in quite a similar fashion as Christmas.
Noel is not an official holiday in Turkey! Instead, Jan 1st is a holiday. You can wish people of Turkey a happy new year on Jan 1st by saying "yeni yılınız kutlu olsun". Most of the shops will be closed on this day, but the food markerts will surely be open and crowded.
New year's traditions in Turkey
Exchanging gifts
Exchanging gifts in Turkey is a tradition. You might even have a surprise guest showing with a gift on their hand. It's hard to know who to give gifts to here because they can come out of the blue, and so it is best advised to be prepared. People of Turkey might gift you a pair of red underwear!!! The red undergarments are considered to be good luck if you put it on at midnight of New Year's Eve.
Playing family games
Families play bingo, milli piyango! it rhymes hell yeah!!! Traditionally, families would roast chestnuts and play bingo all while watching the entertaining line-up and countdowns to midnight that feature on New Year's Eve.
Another tradition is buying a lottery ticket for the grand milli piyango draw that takes place live on TV. A single ticket is 200TL, 100TL for half a ticket and 50TL for a quarter ticket. This year the price was 200 million TL!
Glitzy galas, parties, performances
If you want to go out on New Year's Eve on Turkey, you should know that many venues host special dinners or parties. Most restaurants will have a special menu for New Year's Eve. Many hotels will also have full-blown galas on this day. This includes music performance and dinner of course, for a pricey ticket.
Municipalities also host parties in main squares with concerts and celebrations to ring in the New Year.
Newest noel craze
In Istanbul, a number of multiple-day New Year's fairs will be running this week. These events can include stands, attractions and activities for kids such as ice-skating rings and performances by popular bands. Albeit a newer concept and way to celebrate the New Year, from the New Year's town for kids in Maçka, Beylikdüzü's New Year's Street, to Istanbul Wonder Village in Küçükçiftlik Parkı, and a hipster holiday market at Müze Gazhane, there are a variety of options to gift shop, watch musical performances and celebrate at Türkiye's new-wave "noel" markets.