What's on in Rize, Turkey through the year

Peak crowds — Ayder Snowman Festival, Semester (winter) break in Turkey

• Festival

  Ayder Snowman Festival

  10 Jan – 10 Feb · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  A January celebration of winter on the snowbound Ayder plateau, above Çamlıhemşin, held for more than fifteen years. In thin winters the organisers have had to truck snow in from higher up. Source ↗

• Season

  Ayder heliski season

  15 Jan – 31 Mar · usuallyBook early

  Turkey's only professional heliskiing flies from Ayder into the Kaçkar Mountains once the snowpack has settled, usually mid-January to the end of March. Trips are mostly sold as guided multi-day packages, so plan ahead. Source ↗

Still on: Hamsi season (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))

Peak crowds — Ayder Snowman Festival, Semester (winter) break in Turkey

• Holiday

  Ramazan Bayrami (Eid al-Fitr)

  20–22 MarRamadan & EidClosuresBook early

  Three days of public holiday after the fast, with a half day before, and often bridged into a longer break. Government offices and many family-run shops close on the first day, and intercity buses and domestic flights sell out days ahead as families travel. Source ↗

Still on: Ayder Snowman Festival (10 Jan – 10 Feb (usually)), Ayder heliski season (15 Jan – 31 Mar (usually)), Hamsi season (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))

Peak crowds — Ramazan Bayrami (Eid al-Fitr), Second-term mid-break in Turkey

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Ayder heliski season (15 Jan – 31 Mar (usually)), Ramazan Bayrami (Eid al-Fitr) (20–22 Mar)

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in April.

Busy — Kurban Bayrami (Eid al-Adha), school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Tea harvest season

  1 May – 31 Oct · usually

  The prized first flush, Mayis cayi, is picked in May from the youngest leaves after winter; a bigger, milder-flavoured summer flush follows through July, and a final autumn pass finishes by October. The terraced hillside gardens are at their most active May to October. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Kurban Bayrami (Eid al-Adha)

  27–30 MayRamadan & EidClosuresBook early

  The longer religious holiday, four days and frequently stretched to nine. Offices and many shops close, intercity buses and domestic flights sell out well ahead and fares climb, and holiday hotels fill with Turkish families before the foreign season peaks. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Ayder Culture, Art and Nature Festival, Summer holidays in Turkey

• Festival

  Ayder Culture, Art and Nature Festival

  27–28 JunMajor festivalCrowded

  Two days of horon dancing, tulum music, craft stalls and Hemsin food on the Ayder plateau in late June, closing with bull wrestling; the plateau guesthouses fill for the weekend and the valley road backs up. Source ↗

Still on: Tea harvest season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Kurban Bayrami (Eid al-Adha) (27–30 May)

Peak crowds — Rize Tea & Tourism Festival, Summer holidays in Turkey

• Season

  Kackar high-pass trekking season

  1 Jul – 15 Sep · usuallyTrail season

  The high passes and the summit route above Ayder are usually clear of snow only from July into September, which is also when the summer yayla villages are lived in; mist climbs from the coast most afternoons, so early starts get the views. Source ↗

• Festival

  Rize Tea & Tourism Festival

  15 Jul – 15 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The municipality's International Tea, Tourism and Summer Sports Festival takes over the coastal fill area for about ten days most years, with concerts, paragliding displays and tea tastings. Exact dates move year to year and are announced by the municipality each spring. Source ↗

Still on: Tea harvest season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Ayder Culture, Art and Nature Festival (27–28 Jun)

Peak crowds — Rize Tea & Tourism Festival, Summer holidays in Turkey

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Tea harvest season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Kackar high-pass trekking season (1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually)), Rize Tea & Tourism Festival (15 Jul – 15 Aug (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Tea harvest season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Kackar high-pass trekking season (1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Tea harvest season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually))

Busy — First-term mid-break in Turkey

• Nature

  Hamsi season

  1 Nov – 28 Feb · usuallyForaging season

  Black Sea anchovies come in with the cold, and from November the fish stalls and lokantas along the coast serve them fried, baked with rice or as hamsi kuşu. December to February is when they are cheapest and best. 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: Hamsi season (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))