Kyrenia festivals are the music, food, and cultural celebrations held across Girne (Kyrenia) and its surrounding villages through the year, from classical concerts at Bellapais Abbey each spring to the Zeytinlik Olive Festival every October. Girne, the Turkish name for Kyrenia, sits on the north coast of North Cyprus below the Kyrenia mountain range, and it hosts some of the best-known North Cyprus festivals.
This guide covers the main events in turn: what each one is, when it falls, where it happens, and what you find on the ground. Most follow an annual pattern rather than a fixed date, so the organising municipality or the festival’s own page confirms the current year’s schedule before you travel.
- Kyrenia hosts festivals in every season, spanning classical music, olive and carob harvests, folklore, and a summer carnival.
- The 3 highlight festivals are the International Bellapais Music Festival in spring, the Zeytinlik Olive Festival in October, and the Kyrenia International Culture and Art Festival in late summer.
- The densest run of Kyrenia events falls between May and October, so late-spring or early-autumn trips catch the most.
- Most village festivals are free to enter, while the Bellapais concerts are ticketed.
What festivals happen in Kyrenia each year?
Kyrenia hosts festivals in every season of the year, spanning classical music, olive and carob harvests, folklore, and a summer carnival. The table below doubles as a North Cyprus events calendar for the Girne district, setting out the main annual events by month with the venue and focus of each.
The town rewards a longer stay between festival dates, with plenty in the way of things to do in Kyrenia around the harbour, castle, and mountain villages.
Kyrenia’s harbour and coast also host smaller fixtures between the main festivals. A sailing regatta races out of Kyrenia Harbour in May, the Kyrenia International Film Festival screens features, documentaries, and shorts in the open air by the waterfront, and the spring Northern Cyprus Marathon runs coastal routes through Girne in April. These sit outside the calendar above and change between editions, so local listings carry the dates for each.
“The town rewards a longer stay between festival dates.”
Which festivals are the highlights of Kyrenia’s year?
Kyrenia’s biggest draws are 3 festivals: the International Bellapais Music Festival in spring, the Zeytinlik Olive Festival in October, and the Kyrenia International Culture and Art Festival in late summer. Around these sit smaller village and seasonal celebrations of silk, carob, and summer folklore, described one by one below.
The International Bellapais Music Festival
The International Bellapais Music Festival is North Cyprus’s foremost classical music event, staged in the Gothic cloisters of the 13th-century Bellapais Abbey, also called Bellapais Monastery, in the hills above Girne. Founded in the late 1990s, it runs annually from mid-May into June, when orchestras, chamber ensembles, and soloists perform works from Bach and Mozart to modern compositions. The 27th edition ran from 16 May to 20 June 2025, with concerts starting at 8:30pm and the Italo-Persian pianist Kiann opening the programme, and the festival kept the same window for its 28th edition across May and June 2026.
The Kyrenia Olive Festival at Zeytinlik
The Kyrenia Olive Festival is a week-long harvest celebration in Zeytinlik, a hillside village a short way inland from Girne whose name means “the place of olives”. Zeytinlik is also called Templos, after the Knights Templar who once held the village. Organised by Girne Belediyesi (Kyrenia Municipality), it fills the first week of October with olive-oil cooking demonstrations, pottery and basket stalls, and folklore dancing, and olive presses open their doors so visitors can watch oil being made. Popular singers play evening concerts at the harbour amphitheatre near Kyrenia castle.
The Kyrenia International Culture and Art Festival
The Kyrenia International Culture and Art Festival, branded Kyrenia Fest, is the municipality’s flagship arts programme, a run of concerts and exhibitions across Girne through late summer and autumn. Organised by Girne Belediyesi, the Kyrenia Festival 2025 edition ran for about 40 days from 29 August to 10 October, using the Girne Amphitheatre, the West Nature Park, and the harbour-front Kordonboyu stage. Line-ups mix Turkish headline acts with international performers.
The Ozanköy Carob Molasses Festival
The Ozanköy Carob Molasses Festival celebrates harnup pekmezi, the thick carob molasses made in Ozanköy, a village on the eastern edge of Girne. Held in summer, it pairs stalls of carob syrup and local produce with folk dancing and live music through the village lanes. The 17th edition ran from 29 to 31 August 2025 as part of the wider Kyrenia Fest programme, which folds village harvest celebrations across the district into one calendar.
The Bellapais Silk Cocoon Festival
The Bellapais Silk Cocoon Festival is a May craft fair in Bellapais village, built around the handicrafts local makers create from silk cocoons. Community organisers set stalls of silk goods, embroidery, and traditional food among the lanes below the abbey, with folk music through the day. It is one of the quieter dates on the Kyrenia calendar, which suits a slow morning before an afternoon at the coast.
The Lapta Tourism Festival
The Lapta Tourism Festival is a June celebration in Lapta, a green coastal town west of Girne. The festival programmes folklore performances, live music, and local cooking alongside coastal activities such as hiking and water sports along the shore. It draws both residents and holidaymakers staying on the western Kyrenia coastline, and marks the start of the summer season.
The Kyrenia Summer Carnival
The Kyrenia Summer Carnival is a family funfair-style event held around July, with fairground rides, colourful parades, street performers, and food stalls through Girne. It is a lighter, more informal fixture than the classical and harvest festivals, aimed at children and casual evening crowds rather than a formal ticketed audience. Programmes vary between editions, so local listings confirm the dates before you plan around it.
Info
The International Bellapais Music Festival is the year’s classical highlight, staged in the Gothic ruins of Bellapais Abbey from mid-May into June.
What do these festivals say about life in Kyrenia?
Kyrenia’s festivals grow out of its farming heritage and harbour-town life. The olive, carob, and silk celebrations mark harvests that have supported these villages for centuries, while the music and arts festivals turn Girne’s amphitheatre and abbey into open-air stages. Together they show a calendar tied to the seasons rather than to the tourist trade.
This rhythm is part of the appeal of living in Kyrenia, where residents follow the same round of Kyrenia cultural events, from spring concerts to the autumn olive harvest. The Girne festival calendar also keeps older Cypriot crafts, folk dance, and village foods in public view, which is why the municipality funds and stages so many of them each year.
How do you plan a Kyrenia festival visit?
To plan a Kyrenia festival visit, start by matching your dates to the festival you want, then book concerts and rooms early. The densest run of Kyrenia events falls between May and October, so a late-spring or early-autumn trip catches the most. Most village festivals are free to enter; the Bellapais concerts are ticketed.
Seats in the Bellapais cloisters are limited, and the 2025 concert tickets were priced at 500 Turkish Lira each, sold at the Bellapais box office or online; the official Bellapais Music Festival site lists the current running order and prices. You reach Girne by car or taxi from Ercan Airport, the nearest airport, and the olive and carob villages sit a short drive inland. Visitors who return often enough to look at property in Kyrenia tend to time viewings around the autumn festival season, when the town is at its liveliest.
The bottom line on Kyrenia’s festival year
Time a trip to Girne around one of its festivals and you see the town at its most alive, not staged for visitors. Come in mid-May for the Bellapais Music Festival in the abbey, in summer for the carnival and the Culture and Art Festival concerts, or in the first week of October for the Zeytinlik Olive Festival. Each event is rooted in local harvests, crafts, or music, and most cost nothing to enter. Confirm the current year’s dates with the organising municipality before you set off, because the schedule shifts a little each year.
FAQ
The International Bellapais Music Festival is held from mid-May into June each year, with concerts staged in the cloisters of Bellapais Abbey above Girne. The 27th edition ran from 16 May to 20 June 2025, and performances began at 8:30pm. The exact dates shift slightly each year, so confirm the current programme before booking travel.
The Kyrenia Olive Festival is held in Zeytinlik village, a short way inland from Girne, with evening concerts at the harbour amphitheatre near the castle. Zeytinlik, whose name means “the place of olives”, fills the first week of October with olive-oil food, crafts, and folk dancing. Girne Belediyesi (Kyrenia Municipality) organises and funds the event.
Yes, most Kyrenia festivals are free, open-air public events. The olive, carob, silk, and tourism festivals cost nothing to enter, and you pay only for food, drink, and any crafts you buy. The main exception is the Bellapais Music Festival, whose classical concerts are ticketed, with 2025 seats priced at 500 Turkish Lira each.
October and the late-summer months carry the fullest festival programme in Kyrenia. The Zeytinlik Olive Festival anchors early October, while the Kyrenia International Culture and Art Festival runs concerts from late August into autumn. Spring is the other peak, when the Bellapais Music Festival opens in mid-May in the abbey.