In an age of alarm clocks and mobile phones, an ancient tradition to wake people up during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan thrives in the face of technology. Dressed in costumes dating back to Ottoman times, drummers will be back on the streets next week to help the fasting faithful wake up on time to eat before the onset of the daily fast.

In Istanbul, where more than 15 million people live, some 3,300 drummers will roam the streets across 963 neighborhoods. Throughout the month, they will be out beating their drums and reciting short poems about Ramadan before dawn for sahur, the meal Muslims eat to endure the daily fast in which they are forbidden from eating and drinking until sunset.

Selami Aykut, who heads a federation of mukhtars in Istanbul in charge of drummers, says the drummers will make their final preparations up until their first day on the streets – the early hours of next Sunday. Mukhtars, elected officials in charge of neighborhoods, are responsible for the registration of drummers. Indeed, it is not a job anyone can do, unlike in the past when drummers were less supervised. Drummers are now required to be professionals and residents of the neighborhoods where they work.

Aykut told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Thursday that mukhtars were required to make arrangements for drummers, from their costumes to their area of work. "Usually, the same people work as 'official' drummers every year, with some doing it for 30 years. Anyone seeking to play the drums is required to apply to the office of their local mukhtar with a copy of their ID. Registered drummers are given official name tags," he explained. Aykut said people can check whether their neighborhood drummers are "genuine" by looking at their name tags and IDs if they ask for tips. Tips are the only way the unpaid drummers can make an income on the job. "This is something they do once a month. Please tip them," he said.

Ramadan drummers were among the few professions unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even at a time of curfews, they were allowed to work but on the condition that they maintained social distancing while asking for tips when going door to door at the end of Ramadan during Ramadan Bayram (Eid al-Fitr).

Ali Bulur has been a resident drummer of the Siyavuşpaşa neighborhood in the city's Bahçelievler district for the past 45 years. He feels excited every Ramadan. "I prepared the poems I will recite. Everything's ready," he said. For the past 10 years, Muharrem Bulur accompanies his father who taught him to how to play. "I am happy that Ramadan is near. People applaud us when they see us beating the drums," he said.