The Cultural Heritage of the Greek Panigiri Festivals

The Cultural Heritage of the Greek Panigiri Festivals

A Panigiri is a centuries-old traditional festival organized during the summer, mainly in villages on Greek islands. The festival is not only about chanting and praying, but you also can find the three key elements that make a Panigiri successful: good music and plenty of food and local wine. After the ceremony, people sit together and taste soup, olives, meat with sauce, cod, Greek salad, and drink lots of wine, and toast the “panigiras”. Locals and visitors dance and sing traditional songs until early morning.

The music feasts (in Greek is translated Panigiria) on the island of Ikaria are also a great way of getting funds for the local community. Most of these Ikarian festivals take place from early May and stretch out to November. This makes a lot of sense since the temperatures are not so high during these months, which makes more people interested in visiting the island. There is no better way than to experience a Panigiri festival if you want to get in touch with Greek culture and specifically with local culture.