The Kythnos calendar turns on August 15 at Panagia Kanala - one of the few Cycladic pilgrimages whose icon is formally recognised as miracle-working by the Holy Synod. Away from the pilgrimage, the island's everyday tradition is unusually well documented: two-day village feasts with a fixed order of dances, and the zygia everyone knows.
Nothing on right now
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.
Kythnos has the most specifically documented local music tradition of any Cycladic island. The tsampouna - a goatskin bagpipe and the oldest instrument of the Cyclades - is described on the island's official site as 'the characteristic instrument of Kythnos', tied particularly to Carnival, when it is played through Chora. At the panigiria the standard pairing is violin and laouto - locally the zygia - described as 'an inseparable duo, like a whole orchestra'. The dances follow a strict order: first the table songs sung by everyone together before anyone stands up, then kalamatianos, syrtos in couples, balos, karsilamas. Village panigiria start on the afternoon of the eve, run all night and continue the next day - a two-day form that is the rule on Kythnos.
The Monastery of Panagia Kanala on the south-east coast is the island's main pilgrimage. By tradition the icon was found by fishermen at sea between Kythnos and Serifos; it appeared in their dreams to show where the shrine should be built. The icon received formal pilgrimage status by decision of the Holy Synod in 1973, one of the few Cycladic icons with that designation. The August 15 feast at Kanala brings visitors 'from every part of Greece'. The feast of the Holy Apostles on June 29 at Dryopida, inland, is among the best known village panigiria; the balos is associated specifically with the older residents of Dryopida. The Syllakos, a local dance of Dryopida, was praised by Manolis Glezos for the 'complete harmony of movement and music'.
The feast of Panagia Kanala is on August 15, at the monastery on the south-east coast of Kythnos. By tradition the icon was found at sea between Kythnos and Serifos, and it was recognised as miracle-working by the Holy Synod in 1973 - one of the few Cycladic icons with that formal status. The monastery receives pilgrims from across Greece on August 15.
The tsampouna (a goatskin bagpipe), described as 'the characteristic instrument of Kythnos', is the island's oldest traditional instrument. At the summer panigiria the working pair is violin and laouto - locally the zygia. The dances follow a fixed order, starting with the table songs and continuing with kalamatianos, syrtos in couples, balos and karsilamas.
