The Whirling Dervishes Festival is held on 7-17 December 2018 at Konya, Turkey. The festival is held annually to commemorate the death anniversary of the Sufi saint Mevlana, or Rumi as he was known. Rumi believed that communication with God was possible through dance, and so the dance of the whirling dervishes was born with their swirling white flowing robes and black cloaks and conical headgear. In 2008, UNESCO confirmed the “Mevlevi Sama Ceremony” or the whirling dervishes ceremony of Turkey as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
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