Top festivals in Zakynthos – Greece

Zakynthian festivals - Top festivals in Zakynthos

The island of Zakynthos is a fully culture place. The visitors can live the islander’s culture and get to know the manners and customs of this place. They make different types of festivals and celebrations during the year some big scale and some smaller scale. The big scales are the following

Easter in zakynthos

One of the most important Greek Orthodox tradition is the Greek Easter .If you visit Zakynthos on Easter period you will live one unforgettable experience .All the week the churches have religious ceremonies with all the reverence because of the days .The Holly Friday the morning with the dethronement of Christ after that the culmination of the zakynthian holly week where the church of the central square of Zakynthos begins the procession of the Crucified. Along with the crucified the famous icon of Mater Dolorosa is liturgies. After that the procession crosses almost the entire city and reaches to the main square where the metropolitan goes up to a high stand where blesses the people with the crucified .The evening of the same day all the churches do the sequence of the epitaph of lamentation except of the little squares church that do it early the morning at 02:00 pm of the Holly Saturday . At 04:00 pm the epitaph crosses with reverence all the center of town with a big procession where the people can see .The night of the Holly Saturday the sequence will start at 11:15 am at the metropolitan church .At 11:45 pm the procession starts to reach the central square of Saint Marcus where is the final place that all the people praise the Christ is Risen!

St. Dionysios

St Dionysios is the Patron Saint of Zakynthos. He is s huge part of island life and there are a number of special celebration dates in his honor throughout the year He has an incredibly interesting shivery, and is now known as the Patron Saint of Zakynthos. There are churches named after him, including the large church on the harbor’s edge in Zakynthos Town. On 23 of August is the big Festival of the patron of the island during to the 26th, when for three days the island is at its best .Thousand of people visit the monastery of st Dionysios to light a candle and pray. The main day is on the 25th where they litany the sacred relic of St. Dionysios at the main streets of Zakynthos town with a big procession with psalms and the philharmonic orchestra of Zante. Near the church, open-air markets and street vendors create a festive atmosphere for many days, while local products and sweets are sold everywhere. All these days are the best part of festival with great significance for the Zakynthian people and great memories for the visitors.

Giostra

Giostra takes place fifty days after the Greek Orthodox Easter. It is one of the oldest events on Zakynthos. It has an international feeling as many others European countries take part at the competition. The time goes back and Zakynthos city transformed into an open air theatrical setting with cavaliers and dominions at the roads. Giostra shows to the audience two different types of competitions. The first is that with the rings where the cavaliers trying to collect some small hung rings from a wooden construction. The second was that of the Mascaron Moro. In this the cavaliers to cut a feather from a head of a replica of a colored man. For this reason they named it “GIOSTRA OF VSARAKINO “. The winner take his prize and leaves satisfied as placed with his maiden behind him for whom he has competed. After that dance and celebrations started. This competition takes part at the Solomos big square of Zakynthos.

Some smaller scale where the residents celebrates

3rd of May: Macherado village celebrates the miracle icon of Saint Mavra.
31st July: Malliarou .This is a local custom of “hairy”, a stone covered in seaweed, plucked from the seabed the following day, which brings good luck for the year.
17th July: Agia Marina at the village of Agia Marina
22nd July: Maria Magdalena at Maries Village
24th July: Monastery of Agios Ioannis above Katastari village
26th July: Agia Paraskevi at Volimes village
06th August: Church of Sotiras at Pantokratoras village
August – There have also been celebrations of Varkaola: Night boat rides at Keri and Agios Nikolaos, Skinari.
08th September: Monastery of Spiliotissa in Orthonies.

The Monastery at Anafonitra village (named for the Virgin Mary) celebrates both its name day and Patron Saints name day towards the end of the month of August.