In Kalavryta the calendar follows the mountain: Agia Lavra in spring, village squares full of returning families in August, the trade fairs in September, and the snow of Mount Helmos in winter.
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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.
The year opens at Agia Lavra, a few kilometres outside town, where tradition holds that Bishop Germanos of Old Patras blessed the banner of the 1821 Revolution. On 25 March the monastery fills: a liturgy led by several bishops in the main church, a memorial prayer at the fighters' monument, a thanksgiving service in the courtyard before the old church, and the re-enactment of the fighters' oath and the proclamation of the Revolution, with traditional dances. A few days earlier the town marks its own liberation in 1821. Historians still debate exactly what happened in those days, but for the people of Kalavryta the Lavra banner is where it all began.
In August the villages around Mount Helmos fill up again: cultural associations put on their events, tables go out in the squares under the plane trees, and from village to village one feast follows another with live folk music. The centre of gravity is 15 August at Mega Spilaio, the monastery that clings to a cliff above the Vouraikos gorge and celebrates the Dormition of the Virgin. It keeps the Panagia Megaspilaiotissa, a relief icon of wax and mastic that tradition attributes to St Luke the Evangelist. Between feasts, stop at Planitero, by the springs of the Aroanios, for trout grilled, fried or cooked in butter - Pausanias came here to hear fish that were said to sing.
September is the month of the emporopanigyris, the old mountain trade fair: at Tripotama in late August and early September, in Kalavryta itself in the second half of the month, and at Kleitoria towards the end of September, with stalls, music and tavernas open late. In winter life moves up to the Helmos ski centre and onto the Odontotos rack railway climbing from Diakopto. December, though, is not a time of feasting in Kalavryta: on 13 December the town quietly honours the victims of the 1943 massacre, when German occupation forces executed almost all of its men and burned the town. It is a day of remembrance and respect, not celebration.
A liturgy led by several bishops, a memorial prayer at the fighters' monument, a thanksgiving service in the monastery courtyard and a re-enactment of the fighters' oath with traditional dances. See the current calendar on Mood.
On 15 August, the Dormition of the Virgin. The monastery keeps the icon of the Panagia Megaspilaiotissa, which tradition attributes to St Luke the Evangelist.
Every September, usually in the second half of the month, for about a week. Nearby, Tripotama holds its fair around the start of the month and Kleitoria towards the end. Whatever is scheduled is listed on Mood.
The anniversary of the 1943 massacre, when German occupation forces executed almost the entire male population and burned the town. It is a day of remembrance, not a festival.
