What's on in Ankara, Turkey through the year

Peak crowds — Ramadan, Semester (winter) break in Turkey

• Holiday

  Ramadan

  25 Jan – 25 Mar · usually

  Ankara keeps working through it — this is a civil-service city — but the lokantas around the ministries go quiet at lunchtime and the old quarter below the citadel fills at sunset. Source ↗

Still on: Winter inversion (15 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))

Peak crowds — Ramadan, Semester (winter) break in Turkey

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Ramadan (25 Jan – 25 Mar (usually)), Winter inversion (15 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))

Peak crowds — Ramadan, Second-term mid-break in Turkey

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Ramadan (25 Jan – 25 Mar (usually))

Busy — National Sovereignty Day, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Ankara International Music Festival

  1–30 Apr · usuallyMajor festival

  Four weeks of orchestras, recitals and dance across seven halls, run by the Sevda-Cenap And foundation since 1985. It is the one time the capital's cultural calendar clearly beats Istanbul's. Source ↗

• Holiday

  National Sovereignty Day

  22–24 AprNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  The 23rd of April marks the first sitting of the Grand National Assembly here in 1920, and the main ceremony is at Anıtkabir. Government offices close and the roads around the mausoleum shut with them. Source ↗

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Busy — Summer holidays in Turkey, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Busy — Summer holidays in Turkey, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Busy — Summer holidays in Turkey, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Busy — Summer holidays in Turkey, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Busy — Republic Day, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Republic Day

  27–30 OctNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  The 29th of October is the capital's own holiday, with a parade, a flypast and a long weekend that empties the city towards the coast. Museums and ministries are shut for most of it. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Atatürk commemoration, First-term mid-break in Turkey

• Holiday

  Atatürk commemoration

  9–11 NovNational holidayCrowded

  At five past nine on the 10th the sirens sound and the country stops where it stands. In Ankara the queue up to Anıtkabir runs for hours, which is either the reason to be here or the reason not to be. Source ↗

• Season

  Winter inversion

  15 Nov – 28 Feb · usuallyWinter smog

  The city sits in a bowl and cold, still weather traps household heating smoke in it for days at a time. It is nothing like as bad as it was in the coal years, but the hills above still look down on a lid. Source ↗

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Winter inversion (15 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))