reece and the Greek Islands has been organizing and welcoming festivals since the antiquity.
Today, the Festivals in Greece have a religious basis and are in accordance with the Orthodox calendar. The Orthodox calendar is similar to the Catholic calendar except for Easter.
Other important festivals have a cultural nature.
Many theatrical plays are performed in the country’s ancient and modern theatres. Cinema is quite well represented
March 25: Feast of Annunciation
It is a feast which celebrates the day the angel Gabriel announced Mary the incarnation of the Christ.
Greece festivals: A complete guide to the festivals in Greece
April 23: the Feast of Agios Georgios (St George)
The feast is celebrating the knight who killed the Dragon. Saint George is the patron of the shepherds and celebrations are organised thorough the country. Great festivities also take place in Arahova and Skyros, where St George is the patron saint
May/June: the Day of the Aghio Pneuma (Holy Spirit)
The feast take place 40-50 days after Easter.
in Greece and a festival takes place every year in Thessaloniki.
The country also has an interesting musical scene, especially during summertime, with many appearances from national and international bands.
More: Greece Cultural Events
Religious Festivals
January 1: the New Year's Day
January 1 is the Feast of Áyios Vassílios (Saint Basil), celebrated with church services. It is also the day of the “vassilopita”, a sweat bread with a coin inside which brings to its finder good luck for the future year. January 1 is also the day were the Christmas gifts are given to the children.
January 6: the Epiphany
It is the feast of Ayía Theofánia, or Fóta, which celebrates the day when the “kalikántzari”or hobgoblins that appeared during the period of Christmas are re-banished to the netherworld by the church’s rites. During Epiphany, waters are blessed and evil spirits are banished. At lakeside, seaside or riverside locations, the priests throw a cross into the water and young locals dive to compete for the privilege and blessing of finding it.
January 8: the Yinekokratia
The feast of the Yinekokratia takes place in some villages of Thrace, a north region, where Saint Domenica is celebrated. It is a day where men and women reverse their daily roles for the day.
January 31- February 22: The Carnivals
The Carnival is called “Apokries” and is expressed by three weeks of feasting and dancing for three weeks before the Lenten Monday (Katharí Dheftera). Important celebrations take place in Patra, Xanthi and Cephalonia with a wonderful chariot parade and costumes parties.
Easter
Easter is the most important festival of Greece and of the Orthodox Church, and it really worth to be seen.
The first ceremony takes place on Good Friday where the “Epitafios”, an imitation of the Christ’s funeral bier, is beautifully decorated with many flowers by the women of the parish. The “Epitafios” is then paraded through the streets of the villages or the neighbours of the cities. In some regions of Greece such as Crete, this ceremony is accompanied by the burning of effigies of Judas Iscariot.
A great celebration also takes places the Saturday after, for the Christ’s triumphant return. At the stroke of midnight, all the lights of the churches are extinguished to symbolize the darkness which envelops the Christ as He passes through the underworld. Then a priest appears at twelve o’ clock, holding aloft a lighted taper and chanting "Avtó to Fós… "(This is the Light…) and shares the Holy flame on the candles of near worshippers. Then, the worshippers share at their turn the Holy Light with their close neighbours until the entire church and the courtyard full of people are illuminated by the Holy Light. It is a beautiful spectacle.
Then, unorganised fireworks explode in the streets around the Church. In some places such as Agrinion, men throw impressive fireworks and accidents occur every year.
Worshippers then bring the burning candles home and make with the black smoke of the candle the sign of a cross above their home’s door. This custom is supposed to bring good fortune upon the house.
After midnight, families and friends meet to eat the “Mayeretsa”, a soup made from lamb tripe, rice, dill and lemon. The rest of the lamb will be manually roasted Sunday morning for the lunch, accompanied by wines and dances.
This festival is of great importance in all the region of Greece but some places are very famous for their Easter celebrations: Hydra, Corfu, Pyrgi on Chios, Olymbos on Karpathos and St John's monastery on Patmos.
August 15: Day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
This feast celebrates Mary’s ascent to Heaven. Great pilgrimages take place to Tinos and festivities are organised in Páros, Lesvos, Olymbos or Karpathos.
December 25: Christmas
The feast is of great importance, as it is celebrating the birth of the Christ. The traditional Greek decoratio