Most special days arrive on the same date every year, yet every year they are met with the same lack of preparation: the Mother’s Day campaign is put together two days before, no “we’re closed” notice goes up at the holiday, and the Black Friday ad budget is discussed in the last week. The dates are known at the start of the year, and planning just once lets you run every period more calmly and in a more measured way.
In this article we have gathered the 2027 public holidays, religious holidays, commercial special days and campaign periods for Türkiye with their dates; for each date we explain when you should start preparing and which content ideas make sense. At the end there is a ready-to-fill Excel calendar. Religious holiday dates follow the Diyanet (Presidency of Religious Affairs) calendar.
Why Should the Calendar Be Prepared at the Start of the Year?
In digital marketing, time comes before budget. For a campaign to work well, visuals must be prepared, the ad account and landing page set up, and stock and operations settled. None of this fits into the last week.
An annual calendar gives you these advantages:
- You distribute the budget by season: You can give busy periods a larger share and focus on learning and content production in quiet periods.
- You spread out the preparation: Design, copy and setup tasks are split across weeks, and production quality rises.
- You plan operations ahead: The last order date before a holiday, shipping warnings and working-hours announcements go out on time.
- You stay consistent with your audience: Instead of being forced into every special day, you pick the ones that suit your brand.
For a way to spread the annual budget across months, you can read our article on how to plan a digital marketing budget; this calendar is the time axis of that plan.
Key Dates of 2027: The First Half of the Year
The table below lists the dates from January to June. Prep time is the recommended working time before the campaign starts, and it varies by business.
| Date | Day | Special day / period | Recommended prep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | Friday | New Year’s Day (public holiday) | 2 weeks |
| Early February | – | Start of Ramadan (approximate, check Diyanet) | 3 weeks |
| 14 February | Sunday | Valentine’s Day | 3 weeks |
| 8 March | Monday | International Women’s Day | 2 weeks |
| 9-11 March | Tuesday-Thursday | Ramadan Bayram / Eid al-Fitr (eve: 8 March) | 4 weeks |
| 23 April | Friday | National Sovereignty and Children’s Day | 2 weeks |
| 1 May | Saturday | Labor and Solidarity Day | 1 week |
| 9 May | Sunday | Mother’s Day (2nd Sunday of May) | 3 weeks |
| 16-19 May | Sunday-Wednesday | Kurban Bayram / Eid al-Adha (eve: 15 May) | 4 weeks |
| 19 May | Wednesday | Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day (overlaps with the holiday) | 1 week |
| 20 June | Sunday | Father’s Day (3rd Sunday of June) | 3 weeks |
In 2027, 19 May falls on the 4th day of Kurban Bayram; if you are planning celebration content for that date, take the holiday into account.
The Second Half: Summer, Back to School and Year-End
From July to December the seasonal effect becomes stronger; in e-commerce especially, November is the busiest period of the year.
| Date | Day | Special day / period | Recommended prep |
|---|---|---|---|
| June-August | – | Summer season | 4 weeks |
| 15 July | Thursday | Democracy and National Unity Day | 1 week |
| 30 August | Monday | Victory Day | 1 week |
| Early September | – | Start of the school term (check the Ministry of Education calendar) | 4 weeks |
| 28-29 October | Thursday-Friday | Republic Day (28 October is a half day) | 2 weeks |
| 11 November | Thursday | 11.11 | 4 weeks |
| 24 November | Wednesday | Teachers’ Day | 2 weeks |
| 26 November | Friday | Black Friday | 8 weeks |
| 29 November | Monday | Cyber Monday | 8 weeks |
| December | – | New Year shopping season | 6 weeks |
| 31 December | Friday | New Year’s Eve | 2 weeks |
Black Friday is the Friday after US Thanksgiving (the 4th Thursday of November); because Thanksgiving falls on 25 November in 2027, Black Friday is 26 November and Cyber Monday is 29 November. In Türkiye, campaign lengths can vary by brand. For preparation, see the e-commerce guide for Black Friday and New Year campaigns.
Prep Time and Content Flow for Each Date
Prep time varies with the type of date. A general framework could look like this:
- Gift days (Valentine’s, Mother’s, Father’s): 3 weeks. A gift guide, a campaign page and the last order and shipping date are planned.
- Religious holidays: 4 weeks. Working hours, delivery and payment arrangements, and a campaign for before and after the holiday are prepared.
- Mega campaigns (Black Friday, 11.11): 6-8 weeks. Stock, site speed, the ad account, the email list and the campaign mechanics are prepared in advance.
- Commemoration and celebration days: 1-2 weeks. A single message and a working-hours notice are usually enough.
For each important period you can build a four-stage content flow: teaser, announcement, campaign period and thanks and results. To build your social media calendar around this flow, the template in how to prepare a social media content calendar will help. For campaign emails, you can also see the email marketing guide.
Which Dates Matter by Industry?
You do not have to join every date. Choosing the ones that fit your business prevents campaign fatigue:
| Industry | Priority dates |
|---|---|
| Restaurants and cafes | Valentine’s Day, Ramadan, religious holidays, Mother’s and Father’s Day, New Year |
| E-commerce | Valentine’s, Mother’s, Father’s, 11.11, Black Friday, New Year |
| Education and courses | Start of the school term, Teachers’ Day, summer campaigns |
| Beauty and health | Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, the period after Ramadan, pre-summer |
| Local services and shops | Preparation before holidays, summer and winter seasonal services |
| Corporate / B2B | New Year, year-end thank-you, holiday working-hours notices |
Operations Plan for Public Holidays
Holiday periods are not only about campaigns but about operations. Use this checklist for every religious holiday and long break:
- Announce working hours and closed days on your site, business profile and social accounts.
- State holiday delivery and shipping delays on the product page; announce the last order date.
- Decide how you want to handle ads during the holiday: pause them, lower the budget or change the message.
- Set up ready replies and an automatic welcome message for messages and comments.
- Prepare a ready “welcome back” content piece and campaign for after the holiday.
How Do You Use the Excel Calendar?
We turned the dates in this article into a fillable calendar. You can download the 2027 digital marketing calendar as Excel (the file is in Turkish). It has two sheets:
- Calendar: Dates, days, special days, prep times (the date to start preparing is calculated automatically), content ideas, channels, owner and status columns.
- Monthly Plan: The main theme, budget share and planned number of content pieces for each month. The budget shares should add up to 100 percent; change the sample values to suit your business.
First delete the dates that do not fit your business, then add the missing ones; set the owner for each row and leave the status as “To be planned”. Review the rows whose prep start date is approaching in your monthly meeting.
Common Mistakes
- Joining every special day: Campaigns on dates that do not fit your brand look insincere and spread the budget thin.
- Leaving preparation to the last week: Both production quality and the ad learning period suffer.
- Taking religious holiday dates from an old calendar: Holidays shift about ten days earlier every year; use the Diyanet calendar.
- Forgetting operations: Campaign volume backfires if stock, shipping and customer service are not ready.
- Not recording the results: If no short review is done after a campaign, next year’s plan starts from scratch.
To plan your campaigns, manage your ads and report on results throughout the year, you can look at our digital marketing service.
Frequently Asked Questions
When are Ramadan Bayram and Kurban Bayram in 2027?
According to the Diyanet calendar, Ramadan Bayram is 9-11 March 2027 (eve 8 March) and Kurban Bayram is 16-19 May 2027 (eve 15 May). Also check the relevant announcements for the length of the official holiday.
How far ahead should I start campaign preparation?
A good framework is about three weeks for gift days, four weeks for religious holidays, and six to eight weeks for mega campaigns such as Black Friday. Adapt it to your industry and operations.
Should ads be paused on holidays?
There is no single answer for every business. If you cannot provide service or deliver, pausing ads or changing the message makes sense. If online sales continue, ads can keep running with a delivery delay warning.
Are the Mother’s and Father’s Day dates the same every year?
No. Mother’s Day is the second Sunday of May and Father’s Day is the third Sunday of June. In 2027 these fall on 9 May and 20 June.
When is Black Friday in 2027?
Black Friday is the Friday after US Thanksgiving; in 2027 it falls on 26 November. Cyber Monday is 29 November. In Türkiye, campaign lengths can vary by brand.
How do I keep the calendar up to date?
Fill it in at the start of the year, and at the start of each month review the rows for the next two months. Check official holiday and religious holiday announcements with Diyanet and official sources.
