Beliefs and practies related to Hıdırellez in Balıkesir

In this study, the Hıdırellez festival, which is a spring festival and is celebrated every year on May 6 in order to welcome the arrival of spring, summer and therefore the new year in Anatolia and the Balkan geography, and a number of beliefs and practices related to it, were compiled and examined specifically in the province of Balıkesir. Beliefs and practices related to Hıdırellez in Balıkesir were compiled by field research method, and data from written sources were also used. In the study, the Hıdırellez celebrations held in Balıkesir, the beliefs and practices carried out around various nature cults and ancestors cults related to Hıdırellez, and the traditions of Village Charities and Rain Prayer, which are intertwined with the Hıdırellez tradition and maintained as a whole in Balıkesir, are also examined place is given. The beliefs and practices related to Hıdırellez in Balıkesir, which constitute the basic part of the study, were compiled by field research and literature study, and by making various examinations and comparisons, it was tried to reach conclusions about the current situation of the Hıdırellez tradition in Balıkesir. According to the results, although Hıdırellez is not as alive as before in Balıkesir, it is still kept alive in many places by combining various celebrations, beliefs and practices with other traditions such as visiting tombs, cemetery visits, village blessings and rain prayer. . This study, compiled by field research method, is a study that examines and evaluates the beliefs and practices related to the Hıdırellez festival in Balıkesir from different perspectives.