The role of state celebrations in propagating the nation and its achievements became one of the major tools of empires and nation-states in the nineteenth century in their attempt to shape a common identity and memory. For the Ottoman state, popular celebrations had been used to boast the sultans' legitimacy well before the nineteenth century. Religious festivals and elebrations related to the sultan's family were all perceived as suitable opportunities to herald the dynasty's grandeur and ability. During Abdülhamid II's rule, this old tradition was developed further thanks to new modes of communication, technology and entertainment that were all used to promote the sultan's public image and legitimacy. However, the Young Turk revolution of 1908 brought the Ottoman Empire an "explosion" of public ritual and celebration. This tendency was intensified especially following the military defeat in the Balkan Wars (1912-13) after which the regime adopted a new calendar of state celebrations, rituals and symbols in which the nation and its proclaimed achievements came to the forth. Notwithstanding the military defeat, the introduction of several new national holidays (îd-i millî) served the Young Turks to advance their discourse regarding the rejuvenation of the Ottoman nation in a new spirit that could combine Islam and modernity. Turkish nationalism was absent from these celebrations. One example of these holidays was the commemoration of the "Restitution of Edirne", celebrated on the 10th July (23 July according to the Georgian calendar) that was designated to memorialize the return of this imperial city to Ottoman control following the Second Balkan War. Liberated Edirne turned into a unified symbol for a society that endured unprecedented defeat. By using Ottoman archival sources and contemporary press, I explore the shaping of this new holiday and the public ceremonies that accompanied it. Subsequently, I discuss the significance of this national commemorative day in promoting the new discourse of Ottomanism as presented by the regime following the Balkan Wars and its attempt to build a shared national calendar and narrative. These celebrations, I will argue, did not only mark a turning point in the late Ottoman calendar of festivals and reflected the new identity of the Ottoman state; it also paved the way for national celebrations in the Turkish Republic and in the different Middle Eastern states that inherited the Ottoman Empire following its demise at the end of WWI.