Corfu separated from the world of Aegean panigiria four centuries ago: while the islands to its east were under Ottoman rule, Corfu spent 400 years under Venice - and the imprint is audible every August 11, when three full philharmonic bands, not a folk ensemble, march together through the town.
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May - September
Panigiria run from May to September, and the season peaks at Dekapentavgoustos - the Dormition, on 15 August - when most villages hold their feast. Each programme is set close to its own saint's day, so the list fills late and empties out of season.
Corfu's three philharmonic societies - the Philharmonic Society of Corfu (founded September 12 1840, the oldest music-education institution in Greece; foreigners called it 'La Banda Grecca'), the 'Mantzaros' Philharmonic Society (1890) and the 'Kapodistrias' Philharmonic Union (1980) - are the structural centre of Corfiot public celebration. Four of the island's great processions bring all the bands onto the streets of the town at once. The August 11 procession, honouring the 1716 miracle of Saint Spyridon - when by tradition the saint turned back an Ottoman siege - begins at 9 in the morning with all the philharmonics and the honour guards, and has no equivalent anywhere in the Aegean. The origin of the philharmonic tradition is documented: in 1837 a British military band that had been taking part in Orthodox ceremonies was forbidden by royal decree to continue, and the Corfiots formed an orchestra of their own.
The kantada is the second defining musical form of Corfiot celebration: a four-part polyphonic serenade in the Italian harmonic tradition, sung by groups of four or five men walking arm in arm through the streets on summer evenings. Its roots are in the 400 years of Venetian rule (1388-1797), while the rest of Greece was under Ottoman occupation - the only Greek territory continuously under western European administration in that period. The botides on Holy Saturday are a Corfiot Easter custom: clay pots are thrown from the balconies the moment the bells of Saint Spyridon ring, and the philharmonics strike up marches in the streets immediately afterwards. The village calendar runs from April to September, traditionally beginning at Makrades after Easter; the Sardine Festivals (July 12 and August 5-6, with free grilled sardines and live music) are a specifically Corfiot secular form.
Corfiot festive music comes from Venetian rule, not from the folk tradition of the Ottoman period that defines every Aegean island to its east. The three philharmonic societies trace back to 1837, when a British military band was forbidden by royal decree from taking part in Orthodox ceremonies and the Corfiots formed their own orchestra. The difference is audible: Aegean panigiria have a folk ensemble of 2-4 musicians; Corfiot processions put whole wind bands on the street.
Saint Spyridon, patron of Corfu, is honoured four times a year with great processions. The August 11 procession - marking the 1716 miracle, when by tradition the saint turned back an Ottoman siege - is the largest, with the three philharmonic societies from 9 in the morning through the town.
