All events in Florina
Panigiria Near Florina
Florina's best-known celebration happens in deep winter: the bonfires of December 23. In summer the action moves to the village squares and the shores of the Prespa lakes, with the brass bands always out front.
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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.
Panigiria in other cities
Panigiria Near Florina
At midnight on December 23, fires are lit in every neighbourhood of Florina, the largest in Heroes' Square beside the Sakoulevas river. Each neighbourhood builds its own, and children feed it with cedar and wood gathered over the previous days - in the past they climbed as far as Skopia for good cedar and dragged it back home. Brass bands play around each fire, local Xinomavro wine and tsipouro go round, and in the central square the municipality hands out food and wine. The same night fires burn in the villages around Amyntaio - Agios Panteleimonas, Aetos, Pedino and Variko - where tables are laid beside the flames and the party runs until morning, since the date falls in the middle of tsipouro distilling season.
Prespes keeps its own summer calendar. In Platy, the old Pelargochori, August 6 is the feast of the Transfiguration, in a church built in 1591: older residents remember whitewashing the courtyards for the day, a meal that began only when the church bells rang, and an afternoon of Pontic, Vlach and Macedonian dances in the same circle. On August 15 Psarades, the only Greek village on Great Prespa, celebrates at its church of the Dormition, and in late August the island of Agios Achillios hosts the Prespeia festival. In autumn, at Laimos, the Flavours of Prespes festival - successor to the bean and tsironi festival - serves the lake's giant and elephant beans and its small tsironi fish, with a brass band from Florina.
Elsewhere in the region every village has its day. At the monastery of Agia Triada, 4 km outside Pisoderi, Whit Monday (Agiou Pnevmatos) opens with a liturgy and carries on as a feast in the forest, while the same evening Akritas puts a band in its square. In the stone village of Nymfaio, the church of Agios Nikolaos (1872) also celebrates on the Sunday after the translation of the saint's relics (May 20), with music, dancing and treats in the churchyard. According to the Municipality of Florina, Lofoi celebrates on May 21, Tripotamos on June 29, Meliti and Palaistra on Prophet Elias day, July 20, and on August 15 feasts are held in villages including Ethniko, Polyplatanos and Polypotamos.
Common questions
When are the Florina Christmas fires lit?+
At midnight on December 23, in every neighbourhood of the town, with the largest in Heroes' Square by the Sakoulevas river. Brass bands play, Xinomavro and tsipouro go round, and villages such as Agios Panteleimonas and Variko light fires the same night. See what's on this season on Mood.
Which panigiria take place in Prespes in August?+
The Transfiguration feast at Platy (Pelargochori) on August 6, the Psarades feast on August 15, and the Prespeia festival on the island of Agios Achillios in late August. Find the current calendar on Mood.
What music plays at panigiria near Florina?+
Mostly brass: brass bands set the rhythm from the December fires to the summer village feasts and the Prespes food festivals. Check Mood for upcoming feasts in the area.