Carnival Celebrations in Greece

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Greece’s Carnival season known as “Apokries” is a period of eating, drinking, dancing and masquerading. Traditionally, it begins ten weeks before Greek Orthodox Easter and culminates on the weekend before “Clean Monday,” (Ash Monday) the first day of Lent. This year, the carnival season lasts from February 8 until March 2. The roots of Carnival celebrations and customs can be traced back to ancient Greece and are linked to the worship of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and festivity. In fact, Carnival is closely related to the cultural heritage of each region and every year many traditional customs are being revived in different parts of the country. The Patras Carnival is the most popular in Greece, ranking among the top carnival celebrations in the world. The Carnival of Xanthi (Thrace) and Skyros include more traditional events (Skyros – Carnival) . In Corfu and Rethymno (Crete), the celebrations have absorbed a slightly Venetian flavour from the periods that the islands were under the control of Venice. In Galaxidi, Carnival events culminate on the first Monday of Lent with a parade of floats, transformed into a battlefield, as the “warriors” merciless pelt each other with ample quantities of variously coloured flour.   Agrotravel.gr – Information Gate to Greek Rural Tourism: Carnival Events Around Greece  Athens Plus (February 13): “Fokida: Come and Join the Carnival” (13.02.09, p.42) 

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Greek Island Skyros is not a destination of mass-tourism

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)     The island of Skyros lies in the Northern Aegean, the largest and most isolated of the Northern Sporades. The island is more or less divided into two halves: the fertile north, with its green, rolling hillsides and the barren, mountainous region in the south. The capital “Skyros” or “Hora” is built amphitheatrically on the slopes of a hill, and in the shadow of a medieval castle and the Byzantine monastery of St George of Skyros. Beyond the capital there’s a wonderful, long, sandy beach at Magazia and several beaches along the west coast at Atsitsa.