Guide to Festivals in Greece

Guide to Festivals in Greece Host: The Greeks love an excuse to party. Around Easter in March is the best time to catch the Greeks in action, but do you want to engage in rocket warfare, dress like a spaceman or just party it up carnival style? Patras Carnival is one of the biggest festivals in Europe. Held each year in February and March, the City of Patras comes alive with parades, floats, treasure hunts, parties, food and drink. Patras, located 200 kilometers west of Athens is an ancient city with settlements that spent four millennia. Patras Carnival has a 160-year old history. It is thought to have originated at a ball given in 1829. However, it is also connected with ancient pagan rituals held to honor Dionysus, the God of wine and inspire of madness and ecstasy. Sounds like a fun festival. Patras Carnival is not a single event, but a variety of events that include balls, parades, hunting for hidden treasure and the kids’ carnival. It runs for around four weeks but the highlight is the last weekend of the carnival. The last weekend of the carnival features the extravagant Saturday evening parade and the Sunday parade. The Saturday evening parade is a spectacular show of lights, color and high spirits. Any group can participate in the parade and it always becomes a night of partying. The Sunday parade culminates in the burning of king carnival at the St. Nicholas Street border in the harbor of Patras. Vrontados, located on the island of Chios, lights up the skies during Easter with a rocket war. There are two churches in Vrontados and members of each church fire rockets into the sky in an attempt to hit the opposing church’s bell tower. The buildings in the line of fire are covered in barb wire sheeting, placed on tall scaffolding to keep the rockets from penetrating. The rockets can pierce windows and puncture holes in plaster in doors. There are two different stories about how the rocket festival began. Some say it began during the reign of the Ottoman Empire when Turkish people confiscated the Greek’s cannons for fear of an uprising, but the Greeks resorted to using fire rockets instead. Others say that when the Greeks were prevented from celebrating Easter in the traditional way, they distracted the Turkish occupiers by firing rockets into the sky so they could celebrate. Every year, thousands of tourists from around Greece and the world come to see the night sky lit up with rockets. It can be a spectacular thing to see but it can also be scary. Constantine Pavleas: Obviously, it is a bit frightening. It is impressive but it is also very surprising to see that on the day of the Easter eve, where everybody’s supposed to love each other, well, they fight! Host: Restricted viewing areas are set up at a distance and firefighters spend the evening patrolling the areas for stray rockets, but generally, the rocket war is more spectacle than warfare. A less dangerous but stranger looking event is the Flour War. In this small fishing village of Galaxidi, locals take to the streets with bags of colored flour to throw at each other. They wear goggles and protective suits and even cover their homes in plastic sheeting. Each year, more than 1500 kilograms of flour are used in the war and it is dyed with food coloring. Small amounts of flour are then placed into small plastic bags to be thrown at other people. Achilles Ventouris: We come here every single year. It is a tradition that goes back a long time. In this way, the children learn about old traditions. Host: The bizarre ritual attracts hundreds of participants and spectators from across the country. It is believed the ritual originated in 1801 when Galaxidi residents defied their Ottoman rulers by holding a forbidden carnival. Painting their faces with ash and dancing through the streets. Today, it is another excuse to have fun.