Panigiria in Ios

The Panagia Gremiotissa church in Ios Chora is the site of the island's primary August 15 celebration: the icon is processed through the Chora on the evening of August 14, then services and feasting continue through August 15 with traditional music and fireworks. In late August - August 28-29 - the Monastery of Agios Ioannis Prodromos at Kalamos (near the southern village of Psathi, a different monastery from the hilltop one that celebrates in June) holds what is arguably the more traditional event: lyra and tsambouna are the instruments, dances are performed in traditional dress, and communal kreatosoupa (meat soup) and fasoulada (bean soup) are served freely to all attendees. The structure - liturgy, procession, communal meal, all-night dancing - is the standard Cycladic panigiri format preserved intact.

The island's most internationally cited cultural event is the Homeria, held across the first two weekends of May. Ios has a documented ancient claim as the burial place of Homer - Herodotus recorded that Homer's mother Clymene was from Ios, and a ruin at Plakoto in the island's north is traditionally identified as the tomb. On May 15 each year, a flame is carried ceremonially from the port to the Plakoto site (45 minutes on foot from the village). UNESCO recognized the Homeria in 1998 as a festival contributing to the preservation of Greek cultural identity. The island's large international summer tourism operates in a parallel universe from the panigiria, which draw the permanent community and Greek summer returnees and run on a separate calendar.