Events in Istanbul
This November, Istanbul's calendar leans towards the stage and the gallery. The 30th Istanbul Theatre Festival runs at venues across the city until 3 December, and Taksim Sanat shows Mutluluk Garanti, a group exhibition on happiness and consumer culture, until 10 January 2027. Istanbul Modern closes its Semiha Berksoy retrospective on 22 November, Yoko Ono fills the Sakıp Sabancı Museum until 27 December and Pera Museum pairs Frank Bowling with Francis Bacon. After dark, Astra Lumina lights a night walk at Turkcell Platinum Park until 29 November, and the International Istanbul Book Fair opens on 12 December.
Official events calendar for Istanbul
The events below come from Istanbul's official events calendar and the organisers' own programmes, and each card links to the organiser's listing with the dates and the venue. For the sights that stay open all year, start with top things to do in Istanbul.
30th Istanbul Theatre Festival
When: 22 October to 3 December
Where: Venues across the city
The festival's 30th edition stages theatre and dance across Istanbul, with contemporary dance at Zorlu PSM on 27 and 28 November.
Mutluluk Garanti, Happiness Guaranteed
When: 4 November to 10 January 2027
Where: Taksim Sanat, Taksim metro station
Curated by Marcus Graf, 38 works by 24 contemporary artists look at happiness, consumer culture and utopia in painting, photography and sculpture.
International Istanbul Book Fair
When: 12 to 20 December
Where: Tüyap, Büyükçekmece
Publishers and readers meet across the fair's halls, which set aside book signing areas and an international hall.
Festivals and concerts in Istanbul
Candlelight, The Lord of the Rings
Candlelight, The Lord of the Rings, at Kadıköy Cinema on 14 November at 18:00.
Candlelight, the songs of Sezen Aksu
Candlelight, the songs of Sezen Aksu, at Grand Pera Emek Sahnesi on 27 November at 19:00.
Candlelight, Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Candlelight, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, at Grand Pera Emek Sahnesi on 11 December at 19:00.
Art exhibitions and museum shows in Istanbul
Semiha Berksoy, Aria of All Colors
Until: 22 November
Where: Istanbul Modern
More than 200 works follow the opera singer and painter across the stage, painting, cinema and writing, from early drawings to large sheet paintings.
Astra Lumina, a night walk among the stars
Until: 29 November
Where: Turkcell Platinum Park
Moment Factory's night walk leads visitors through nine themed areas of light, projection and sound in a forested garden.
Yoko Ono, Insound and Instructure
Until: 27 December
Where: Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Emirgan
Sixty-seven works span more than seventy years of Yoko Ono's practice, from early instruction pieces to film, performance and participatory installations.
Frank Bowling with Francis Bacon and Victor Willing
Until: 31 January 2027
Where: Pera Museum
Curated by Alistair Hicks, the show brings Frank Bowling's paintings to Istanbul for the first time, set beside works by Francis Bacon and Victor Willing.
Time Space Geometry, Olivo Barbieri
Until: 15 August 2027
Where: Borusan Contemporary, Perili Köşk
Five series of Olivo Barbieri photographs, from aerial views of Ephesus and Aphrodisias to Capri and the Alps, rethink how a landscape is seen.
Istanbul tickets and tours
Keep the city and national holiday calendar in mind
Public holidays change the shape of a visit more than most travellers expect. Public offices and banks close on the days the law names, and many shops and museums change their hours around them, so a day built around a market or a museum can come apart. Turkey fixes its holidays by law rather than by region: Law 2429 of 1981 sets a single national list, and the two religious feasts move each year with the calendar published by the Presidency of Religious Affairs.
National holidays in Turkey 2026
- 1 January New Year's Day (Yılbaşı)
- 20 March First day of the Ramadan feast (Ramazan Bayramı)
- 21 March Second day of the Ramadan feast (Ramazan Bayramı)
- 22 March Third day of the Ramadan feast (Ramazan Bayramı)
- 23 April National Sovereignty and Children's Day (Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı)
- 1 May Labour and Solidarity Day (Emek ve Dayanışma Günü)
- 19 May Commemoration of Ataturk, Youth and Sports Day (Atatürk'ü Anma ve Gençlik ve Spor Bayramı)
- 27 May First day of the Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı)
- 28 May Second day of the Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı)
- 29 May Third day of the Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı)
- 30 May Fourth day of the Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı)
- 15 July Democracy and National Unity Day (Demokrasi ve Milli Birlik Günü)
- 30 August Victory Day (Zafer Bayramı)
- 29 October Republic Day (Cumhuriyet Bayramı)
Local holidays in Istanbul 2026
Istanbul adds no local public holiday to that list. Turkish law sets the general holidays for the whole country and gives no province or city a rest day of its own, so 29 May, the anniversary of the conquest of the city in 1453, is marked with ceremonies rather than a day off: for the 573rd anniversary the provincial governor's office ran a conquest walk from Beyazit Square to Hagia Sophia Square. In 2026 that date falls inside the Feast of the Sacrifice in any case.
Half days are the part visitors miss: the law starts each religious feast at 13:00 on the eve, 19 March and 26 May in 2026, and starts Republic Day at 13:00 on 28 October, when public offices shut for the afternoon.
The 2026 religious calendar from the Presidency of Religious Affairs >
Before you go to Istanbul
What to see in Istanbul
The Istanbul guide on Tourist Office covers Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar, with free sights and smaller museums for a longer stay.
Tourist office in Istanbul
Where Istanbul's tourist information offices are, the hours they keep and the public holidays that change them.
Beyond Istanbul
The Turkey guide looks past Istanbul to Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Ephesus and Göbekli Tepe, with the sights worth building a longer trip around.