Listed 1 sub titles with search on: Festivals and fairs for destination: "CRETE Island GREECE".
In Crete, you will come across opportunities to enjoy yourself by
taking part in a Cretan "glenti", or merry-making, almost every day.
In the villages, above all, traditional Cretan weddings will give you a chance
to hear authentic folk music, follow Cretan dances, drink Cretan wine, and eat
tidbits of Cretan meat. The feast-days of churches and monasteries are occasions
for merry-making, spring, summer and autumn. A brief calendar of feast days and
educational and recreational events, though it is a list that grows longer every
year, will give you some idea of the possibilities:
February: The feast of Haghios Charalambos is celbrated
with dances, food and drink at Crousona.
March: Carnival time, with festivities all over the
island, particularly in the big towns.
Shrove Monday: the first day of Lent, celebrated
in the countryside with dances, music and Lenten food (particularly seafood and
a special unleavened bread, "lagana", eaten only on this day) and plenty
of wine.
March 25: A national holiday, in honour of the Day
of Independence and the Feast of the Annunciation. In Apocorona,
Chania, a festival is held on Lady Day.
Easter: Religious celebrations take place all over
Crete, throughout Holy Week. On Easter Sunday and Monday, everyone feasts on roast
lamb and drinks lots of wine. Characas,
Monofatsi, is particularly noted for its Easter celebrations. In the second
and third day after Easter, an orange festival is held in Skines,
Kidonia, Chania, with dances and songs.
April: The Feast-day of St. George, April 23, is
a sheep shearing festival. Milk, wine and food are served in the village Haghios
Georgios on the plateau of Lassithi. Milk and cheese feast in Assi
Gonia, Chania.
When Easter Sunday falls early, the orange festival of Skines
is held on the fifth and sixth of May.
May: On May Day, Cretans flock to the countryside
to gather wild flowers for May-Day wreaths and to feast.
May 21: A festival, with dancing and singing, is
held in Arcalochori, Heracleion.
Throughout the week of May 21, celebrations are organized in the honour of the
glorious Battle of Crete, particularly in Rethymno,
Heracleion and Chania.
The festivities include athletic games, dancing in public squares, exhibitions
of historical documents from the war, speeches, plays, concerts and religious
ceremonies.
June: The village of Piskokephalo,
near Crousta, Lassithi, holds
a festival.
July 9: A wine festival is organized in Rethymnon,
with much merry-making and plenty of free wine.
July 17: The feast-day of St. Marina, celebrated
in the village of Voni with dances and feasting. Towards the end of the month,
the village of Daphnes, Heracleion,
holds a wine festival.
July 26: The feast-day of St. Paraskevi is celbrated
in Scoteinos Cave, near Gouves.
August: This is the month of most festivals in Crete.
During the first two weeks, Sitia
holds a sultana-grape festival, accompanied by many festivities while Anogeia
organizes a festival, which includes exhibitions of popular crafts, folk dancing
and folk music competitions, a traditional Cretan wedding, concerts and athletic
events. Visitors are invited to join in. Religious celebrations are held in Arcalochori,
Archanes, Alagni and Haghios
Myron, Heracleion. In the village of Critsa,
Lassithi, foreigners can be guests at a traditional wedding, in which all
the folk customs are observed.
August 15: The Feast of the Assumption is a major
feast day all over Crete, in monasteries, convents and churches dedicated to the
Virgin Mary. The most important festivities are held in Neapolis,
Lassithi, in Mochos, Paliani,
Cardhiotissa and Hodhigitria.
During summer three months (July, August and September) of educational
and recreational events are organized by the city
of Heracleion. Concerts of classical and folk music, plays, ballets, operas
and exhibitions of paintings and photographs are among the attractions that draw
artists and intellectuals from all over Greece.
September: The vintage month of wine and raki. In
many villages, festivals are held to celebrate the coming of autumn. In Pombia,
Heracleion, a festival is organized in honour of the great Cretan hero, Michalis
Corakas.
October: A chestnut festival is held at Elos,
Kissamos, on October 21.
November: Celebrations in Rethymnon
and at the Monastery of Arcadi
in memory of the epic events that culminate in the holocaust of 1866.
December: The holy Days are observed according to
age-old traditions, especially in the villages. In Cretan towns, carols are sung
on Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and the feasting starts at midnight. Churches
hold services in honour of birth of Christ and the beginning of the New Year.
January: The festivals of Epiphany and of St. John
the Baptist on the sixth and seventh of January round off the Christmas festivities.
Epiphany is celebrated with religious processions, the blessing of waters and
diving by the faithful.
Countless other festivals are organized throughout the year in the
villages by hundreds of educational and recreational groups. The festivals, especially
those that include feasting and dancing, are publicly announced, so that foreigners
can easily find out about them and join the fun.
(text: MANOLIS DOULGERAKIS & UTE SCHACHTELE)
This text (extract) is cited February 2004 from the Heraklio
Hoteliers Association tourist pamphlet.
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