Şeb-i Arus 2026

When is Şeb-i Arus 2026?

From Monday 7 to Thursday 17 December 2026, in the Sema Hall of the Konya Mevlana Cultural Center. It is the 753rd year.

The Konya Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism lists the event under its full name: the 753rd International Commemoration Ceremonies for Hz. Mevlana's reunion anniversary. Eleven days, one hall. GoTürkiye, the ministry's tourism portal, describes it as a yearly event in the first half of December, with the Mevlevi Sema at its heart.

The directorate says a programme booklet will be posted on its page when it is ready. It was not up yet when we checked on 13 November 2026, so evening start times are still to come. Keep an eye on that page in late November.

Why is Şeb-i Arus on 17 December?

Rumi died in Konya on 17 December 1273. His followers do not mourn that night: they call it Şeb-i Arus, the wedding night, his union with God.

Şeb-i Arus is Persian for “nuptial night”. Hürriyet Daily News, reporting on the 752nd year, put it simply: the ceremonies take their name from “the night of Mevlana's death on Dec. 17, 1273”, and Konya speaks of vuslat, reunion, rather than loss. The eleven days lead up to that last night.

Rumi was born in Balkh in 1207, and his family settled in Konya on 3 May 1228, per HodjaPasha's biography of him. The Mevlevi order was founded in Konya in 1273, per UNESCO. The life, the poems and the order are in our guide to Rumi and the Sufis.

How do you get Şeb-i Arus tickets?

Online on biletinial.com, the only seller named by the ministry. Sales opened on Friday 9 October 2026 at 10am.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Şeb-i Arus site gives the essentials and no more: the dates, the hall, the seller and the opening time. Prices and seat plans are on biletinial.com itself. Book as soon as your dates are fixed: the closing night of 17 December is the best known of the eleven.

The rest of the programme costs nothing. The directorate says the cultural and arts events held in other halls of the city during the commemorations are free. That makes an evening in Konya worth it even with no Sema ticket in your pocket.

What is the Şeb-i Arus ceremony like?

A large evening ceremony: speeches, a Qur'an recitation, the Mevlevi music and the Sema. Recent years have each had a theme.

Hürriyet Daily News reported that the 2025 ceremonies opened with a Qur'an recitation at the Mevlana Cultural Center, that the Culture and Tourism Minister addressed the audience, and that the theme was “Huzur Vakti”, a time for serenity. In 2024 it was “Muhabbet Vakti”, a time for love, per The Konya News, which said the evening Sema ceremonies would culminate in the Şeb-i Arus ceremony on the evening of 17 December.

By day, visitors head for the Mevlana Museum. GoTürkiye calls the green-tiled mausoleum Konya's most famous building; the old dervish lodge beside it is now the museum. Its 2026 hours and fee are on the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's museums site. Hürriyet Daily News described heavy crowds there all through last year's week, so go early. Getting to Konya and the rest of the city are in our Konya guide.

How should you behave at Şeb-i Arus?

As you would at any Sema: it is a religious ceremony, not a show. Sit quietly, keep your phone away and hold your applause unless the hall clearly invites it.

GoTürkiye calls the Sema “a mystical ceremony with religious elements, themes and detailed rules.” HodjaPasha's own rule is a good one to borrow: the Sema “requires silent and tranquil atmosphere.” The Konya News describes visitors from across Türkiye and abroad, and for many of them this is a once-a-year night.

Dress as you would for a place of worship. What to expect inside, from the cloaks dropped at the start to the last prayer, is in our Sema etiquette guide.

Can you see a Sema in Istanbul in December?

Yes, every day. HodjaPasha holds its Sema at 7pm daily, and other Istanbul venues on this site list evening ceremonies too; check the dates on each listing.

Hürriyet Daily News reported a separate Şeb-i Arus ritual at the Atatürk Cultural Center in Istanbul on 23 December 2025. Nothing for 2026 had been announced when we checked. The regular ceremonies are easier to plan: HodjaPasha is an hour in a 15th-century double hamam a few minutes from Sirkeci station, with check-in 30 minutes before. The ceremony in Kasimpasa Mevlevihanesi takes place in a Mevlevi lodge founded in the 1620s, per the listing, with an introduction by the resident sheikh.

Caterina (Oct 2026), after the HodjaPasha Sema: “I don't know if it was the atmosphere, the singers' voices, or the music, but I was moved to tears.” Every ceremony here cancels free up to 24 hours before.

Istanbul's most booked Sema: Mevlevi music and whirling under a hamam dome every evening at 7pm, with a dervish exhibition and a programme booklet.

★ 4.4 · 1 hour · from $32

Explore the HodjaPasha ceremony → Tour details

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