Fairs

Karpathos, rich in local traditions, is famous for its festivals.

The customs of the island are kept unchanged from generation to generation and their rituals are not changing. Their main characteristic is that they are offered free of charge to all believers, traditional food, cooked from the Church, and then follows a great feast, with dances and songs.

The songs that are often heard in the joys of marriage, christenings or festivals are old, with improvised doubles and accompanied by traditional instruments, lyre, bagpipe and lute.

In every village in Karpathos there is at least one central temple dedicated to its patron saint, which the Karpathians celebrate in a way that seems to be related to the early Christian “loves”. It is remarkable that many of these churches belong to families, who take care of them, maintain and organize the fairs in honor of their saints.

On 15 August, the island celebrates and feasts are held in Aperi, Diafani, Menetes and Olympos, while on 8 September Panagia Mesohoritissa celebrates in Mesohori.

Click on the button below to view the festivals in each village of Karpathos (select each village to see its festivals).

Fairs per village

Aperi

  • The temple of Agios Charalambos is celebrated on February 10th.
  • The temple of the Transfiguration of the Savior on August 6th.
  • The temple of the Assumption, on August 15th.
  • The chapel of Virgin Mary of Mertona, on August 23rd.
  • The chapel of Panagia (or Kira Panagia) on August 23rd.

Arkasa

  • The temple of Candlemas is celebrated on February 2nd.
  • The temple of Agios Nikolaos in Finiki, December 6th

Volada

  • The temple of Birth of the Virgin, on September 8th.
  • The temple of Archangel Michael in Lasto, November 7th.

Menetes

  • The temple of the Assumption is celebrated on August 15th.
  • The temple of Agios Ioannis in Afiarti on August 29th.
  • The temple of Agia Marina on July 17th.

Mesohori

  • The temple of Panagia Vrysiani is celebrated on September 8th.
  • The temple of George of Lefkos on Easter Tuesday.

Othos

  • The temple of Metamorphosis of the Savior is celebrated on August 6th.
  • The temple of Agios Panteleimonas in Stes, on July 27th.
  • The chapel of Panagia Gynatous, on September 8th.
  • The temple of Agios Symeon, September 1st.

Olympos

  • The Virgin Mary, at the Feast of the Annunciation, on March 25th.
  • The Second Resurrection takes place on Easter Sunday and is the main Resurrection for Olympos and the Olympians.
  • The feast of Zoodochos Pigi is held every Good Friday in Diafani.
  • The feast of Agios Panteleimonas is held in Saria on July 26-27th.
  • The feast of the Transfiguration of the Savior Christ is organized on August 6th.
  • The temple of the Assumption is celebrated on August 15th.
  • The temple of Agios Ioannis in Vroukounta on August 29th.
  • The feast of the Virgin is on September 8th.
  • The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross takes place on September 14th in the Potamos area.
  • The feast of Archangel Michael (Paliarmotis) takes place on November 8th in the small seaside settlement of Tristomo.
  • The feast of Agios Minas is held on November 11th, in the area of ​​Philios.

Pigadia

  • The temple of the Annunciation is celebrated on March 25th. Panagia Evagelistria is the central church of Pigadia and the first church that the visitor faces from the sea. It is celebrated festively on March 25th and its feast is one of the largest on the island.
  • The temple of the Holy Apostles is the second great church in Pigadia and is celebrated on June 30th.
  • The chapel of Panagia Larniotisa, on September 7th.
  • The chapel of Zoodochos Pigi, on Easter Friday.

Piles

  • The temple of the Assumption of the Virgin is celebrated on August 15th.
  • The temple of Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14th

Spoa

  • The temple of Agios Georgios (methistis) is celebrated on November 3rd.
  • The temple of Eftapatoussa in Agios Nikolaos on August 23rd.
  • The temple of Agios Nikolaos on December 6th.

Major local events

Feast of the Assumption of Virgin Mary in  Olympos, Karpathos

The feast of the Assumption of Virgin Mary in Olympos of Karpathos, is one of the most memorable. In this place, the liturgies are deeply connected with the mourning that characterizes this conjuncture for Christianity and the culmination of the traditional celebration is the dance that takes place in the small square, in front of the Panagia Church, with the organ players playing the Lower Dance, short-lived and severely moody. Initially, the men sitting on the table and with a piece of basil in the lace, sing and drink, accompanied by lute and lyre. As the darkness falls, the dance starts, slowly, and the women dressed in their traditional festive dresses of spectacular beauty, brilliance and elegance. The dance is slow and always with a steady step and devout mood, it keeps for hours and the whole atmosphere is one of the most beautiful that the faithful can experience in the feasts of the Aegean.

The monastery of Agios Ioannis in Lakki is located in the cavern of the Vrukounta cape and celebrates on August 28th, with a feast held two days. The locals start from Avlona on foot or from Diafani by boat from the eve of the feast. Once they have arrived, they set up their supplies and start a big shindig, feasting and dancing until dawn. After the sun rises, the locals are resting sleeping on beds that have been placed in the open air outside the cave. The next morning they attend the ecclesiastical liturgy and continue the feast until the evening.

Halloween in Karpathos

In Othos, from the morning of Clean Monday, the feast is set up in the cafe. They eat, drink and remember their dead. They take off the instruments and start the mantinades, talking about those who have died recently or earlier and their absence remains noticeable or mentioned in the ephemeral of life. The thrills rise and the climate becomes lighter, the cheerful songs begin and the first kamouzelles appear that is the masquerades.

The celebration continues in the Megaron, in the community-created area for banquets and dances. There begins the “Court of Unethical Acts. The men dressed in women bring before Kadis men who are dressed in men or are not dressed in anything, with various satirical accusations. Depending on Kadis’ talent and the accusations of accusers and defendants, many spontaneous dialogues are spent. Eventually no one is acquitted. The conviction is a fine, paid in truth.

At the same time, the instruments play elsewhere in the Megaron. Already at noon people from all the villages, most masquerades, have begun to flock, forming a colorful panic of streamers, mutsunes (smackers), treats, music and fuss. Meanwhile, Pepper’s dance is also set up:

On a prominent platform ascend those who want to dance. Only men, only masked and not too many, to be visible. Kavos (dance leader) has a belt and supervises if everything is done properly. The Lower Dance begins, with songs and mantinades of obscure and sexual content. After three four minutes of dancing, the verse comes: “How do monks scrub pepper? With their nose (eg) they rub it and they hit it twice.” The dance ends, they rub the pepper with their nose and Kavos uses the belt to flog whoever does not do it well.

In Othos the pepper is not rubbed on the earth, as in other places and like “normal”, but every person is rubbed against the other. This sometimes creates some hilarious clusters. The dance is reborn, and they continue with gamotragouda (songs with explicit lyrics) and the footsteps of Down. After a while the pepper returns. They rub it with another part of the body, eat a few, and the same story continues.

Easter in Karpathos

Easter in Karpathos is the ultimate religious experience. As all festivals and events are passionately experienced by the locals, so also Easter, the Karpathians and especially the Karpathians identify with the sad fact of death and with the joy of resurrection and experience the great celebration of Christianity strongly emotionally, creating a ritual atmosphere that is hard to find today in Greece.

In Olympos, women decorate the Epitaph and put pictures of the people who left this year. Once they put the Epitaph in the church, they leave their hair soft and mournful, in a peculiar ritual.

On Easter Sunday all the island is celebrating the rhythms of the bagpipe, the lyre and the lute, while on Easter Monday the women make cakes and go to the cemetery to decorate the tombs and dedicate them to the dead.

Wine Festival in Lasto

Every year in Lasto, in Volada, a wine festival is held, where many people gather to taste the “Adam’s wine” made by the locals in their traditional wine-presses.

Karpathian wedding

Karpathian marriage takes place on the island in a special way and preparations last for a week.

The marriage to Olympos is the case of the whole village and is celebrated for three days. On the wedding day, locals, friends and relatives “are talking to the bride”, go to her home and take her from her parents to accompany her to the church playing musical instruments and singing mantinades. Once the mystery is over, there is a feast, where women are allowed to sing! The songs and mantinades that are said at the beginning refer to the relationship of the bride with the parents and contain wishes for her new life, with the result that the bride is moved. The bride’s “gold-coating” follows, so the guests fill her jacket (“sakofoustano” – traditional bridal) with gold jewelry or money. Women wear colorful traditional costumes, with double rows of coins in the chest and fancy headscarves.

Sources:
https://karpathos.travelfind.gr
http://www.wondergreece.gr