Spotlight on 2 of the Best Festivals in Greece
Greece is home to some of Europe’s most wonderful winter festivals, which are carrying on decades and sometimes centuries of celebrations. These festivities are filled with costumes, parties, music, dancing, food, and general revelry, as locals and visitors alike participate in many of Greece’s carnival traditions.
Here is a look at two winter festivals in Greece that you may want to consider checking out on a visit to the country. If you plan to attend either one, be sure to book a hotel early because accommodations can fill up quickly.
Ragoutsaria
This festival in northern Greece is held in early January in the city of Kastoria. Anyone wanting to experience a centuries-old festival in all its glory should consider adding this stop to their itinerary. Ragoutsaria, which begins on the day of Epiphany, draws on ancient Dionysian rites and is filled with colorful costumes, dancing in the streets, and a parade. The festival began in Pagan times and adopted many defining traits from Dionysia, an ancient Athenian celebration for Dionysus, the god of wine, winemaking, and fertility.
The purpose of Ragoutsaria is to help people forget their troubles from the past year. The festival was passed down from antiquity and throughout the Roman and Byzantine occupation. Its name derives from “rogatores,” a Latin word that means “beggars” and that symbolizes the original tradition of townspeople wearing eccentric costumes and going from one house to another accompanied by musicians performing Balkan music. They asked residents for gifts of food, wine, or money, a practice that they believed to would make evil spirits flee from their homes. However, modern-day participants aren’t requesting money. Instead, they want more people to come out and join the party.
The three-day festival begins each year on January 6 and ends on January 8, when visitors and residents gather in Doltso, the town square. At this time, people of all ages, many wearing traditional costumes, are divided into parade units referred to as “crowds,” each with its own orchestra. After three days of singing, dancing, contests, and competitions, Ragoutsaria concludes on Paterista and features a huge carnival parade called Bouloukia. The celebration’s culminating location in Doltso is notable, as this area once served as a meeting place for locals to unite and preserve their Greek traditions amid the Turkish occupation.
Patrino Karnavali
With origins in Italy, Patrino Karnavali (also known as Patras Carnival) is one of the biggest and most exciting festivals in Europe. More than 300,000 people attend the festival, which consists of numerous stand-alone parties, parades, dances, and treasure hunts across Patras that span several days in January, rather than a singular celebration in a central location. The festival begins with an opening ceremony and culminates with a grand parade that ends with the burning of the Carnival King’s float.
Patrino Karnavali began about 180 years ago and gained prestige from the masquerade balls that local bourgeoisie threw in their mansions. Around 1870, wealthy residents began to pay for elaborate floats, and parades were added to the carnival festivities. Due to Patras’s proximity to Italy, which has many carnivals, Patrino Karnavali grew and flourished. It took on even greater proportions in the mid-1900s, when residents welcomed the celebration as an antidote to the sadness of the post-war era.
Today, Patrino Karnavali maintains its core traditions, many of which date back to the 1800s. Nightly improvised masquerade parties known as “boules” still spill out into homes and taverns, and visitors can easily find one of these events in local nightclubs and the Municipal Theatre. The parades feature lines of decorated cars, giant papier-mâché figures, and thousands of people with painted faces and colorful, flamboyant costumes dancing in the streets to loud music. Nihterini Podarati on the Saturday evening before the final Sunday of the festivities features an extravagant parade experience. Carnival-goers organize for group dances and hold torches as they walk through the city’s dark streets. The only float is that of the Carnival King. Everyone else walks.
Visitors also can take part in other carnival traditions. For instance, they can participate in hidden treasure hunts by joining groups that have different names and disguises based on specific themes, such as Cosmic Chimneys and Colorful Umbrellas, and compete in various games. Participants can march in parades and search for treasure-hunt clues throughout the city, or both. Other activities at Patrino Karnavali include the chocolate war, wherein chocolates are tossed into the crowd from floats and balconies. Children are also welcome to participate in the Children’s Carnival, which includes a parade with approximately 12,000 children, games, and workshops. Festivalgoers will come together for the closing Sunday night ceremony, where the Carnival King’s float is burned in the Patras harbor as fireworks are set off in the background.
The 2020 carnival will begin on January 17 and run through March 2. The arrival of the Carnival Train from Athens will mark the start of six weeks of celebration, and the festivities will officially begin with an appearance from the 2020 festival queen.
