The Larissa plain celebrates all at once: the week around August 15 is the densest of the year, with dozens of villages holding their feast within a handful of days.
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.
More than 78 panigiria and traditional events have been counted across Thessaly in nine days, from August 10 to 18 - a density you will not find anywhere else on the Greek mainland. In the Larissa regional unit the weight falls on the Elassona and Olympus highlands and on the plain villages: Tsaritsani and Livadi, Kalyvia and Kryovrisi, Damasi and Krania Olympou on August 15, Kastri-Loutro with its summer customs, Mesangala on the 16th. Tyrnavos and Elassona keep their own identity around tsipouro, wine and feta, while in the municipality of Agia the celebrations are built around apples, apricots and figs.
A second, agricultural calendar runs alongside the saint's days. At Omolio the corn and kiwi harvest is marked every third weekend of August, with dance groups and music. At Stomio, from July 23 to 25, the Festival of the Sea brings traditional dancing and sardine grilling to the shore. The music at Thessalian feasts rests on the klarino with violin and laouto, and the circle opens with syrta and tsamiko. On the table come pites - the Thessalian pie is an institution in itself - local cheeses, roast meat and tsipouro from the area's own stills.
In the plain villages and the Elassona and Olympus highlands - Tsaritsani, Livadi, Damasi, Krania Olympou, Kalyvia, Kryovrisi, Kastri-Loutro and Mesangala - as well as in Tyrnavos and Agia. See the current calendar on Mood.
In the week around August 15. More than 78 panigiria and traditional events have been counted across Thessaly within nine days, from August 10 to 18.
