Around Katerini the panigiria climb into the mountains: onto the slopes of Olympus and the Pieria range, where villages keep their saint's day and local associations keep Vlach and Sarakatsan traditions alive.
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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.
At Palaios Panteleimonas, the stone village on the eastern slopes of Olympus above Platamonas, the feast of Saint Panteleimon on July 27 fills the square with music, traditional dances and people from across the area. The same summer, on the last weekend of July, Elatochori in the Pieria mountains holds its gathering of Elatochorites, with dances, songs and theatre, while neighbouring Ritini marks the feast of the Holy Spirit, after Pentecost, with a three-day festival. In Litochoro the patron is Saint Dionysios of Olympus: on January 23 pilgrims come from all over Greece, and on the eve of the Holy Cross, September 13, his icon is carried by horse from the Metochi to the old monastery, at 900 metres on the road to Prionia.
Katerini is also a Vlach town. Most of its Vlachs - an Aromanian-speaking people of the Greek mountains - trace their roots to Livadi and Kokkinoplos, villages on the far side of Olympus whose shepherds wintered their flocks here until they stayed for good, and the Kokkinoplites' association "O Olympos" holds its own traditional Vlach glenti in the town. Agios Spyridonas and Dion are home to most of the prefecture's roughly five hundred Sarakatsan families, descendants of herders who wintered at the foot of Olympus, and their association "O Katsantonis" keeps their songs and costumes in use. In summer the Olympus Festival opens the ancient theatre of Dion and Platamonas castle, and on November 25 Katerini honours its patron, Saint Catherine.
In the villages of Olympus and the Pieria mountains - Palaios Panteleimonas on July 27, Elatochori on the last weekend of July, Ritini for the Holy Spirit - and at Vlach glentia in the town itself. See the current calendar on Mood.
Its patron, Saint Dionysios of Olympus, is honoured on January 23. On the eve of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, September 13, his icon is carried up by horse to the old monastery on Olympus.
Yes. The town has a large Vlach community with roots in Livadi and Kokkinoplos, and their associations hold glentia with Vlach music and dancing. Each year's dates are listed on Mood.
