All events in Varda
Panigiria Near Varda
Varda is a farm town on the plain of Ilia in the western Peloponnese, built around a railway station, and its feasts taste of the land that feeds it: strawberries, tomatoes, yogurt and dancing in the square until late.
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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.
Panigiria in other cities
Panigiria Near Varda
In late June, Plateia Eleftherias fills up for the Vouprasia, the town's established run of cultural nights organised by the Municipality of Andravida-Kyllini and the Varda Cultural and Educational Association. The first evenings belong to children, theatre and modern dance; the last ones to tradition, with the association's dance groups and a big traditional glenti - a Greek feast of live music, dancing and food - that runs past midnight. The town itself is young by Peloponnese standards: it grew around the railway station that arrived in 1888, first called simply "Manolada Station", and swelled when the people of Xenies resettled here after their village disappeared under the artificial Pineios lake. The parish church of Agia Triada celebrates at Pentecost and the feast of the Holy Spirit.
Seventeen kilometres east, near the village of Spata, the monastery of Agios Nikolaos was built about two centuries ago on the spot where, the story goes, shepherds found the saint's icon. It celebrates three times a year: on December 6, on May 10, marking the translation of the saint's relics from Myra in Lycia to Bari, and at Pentecost, drawing pilgrims from Ilia and Achaia. In Nea Manolada, among the strawberry fields, the church of Agios Georgios keeps an icon of the Virgin that refugees brought from Constantinople in the population exchange of 1922, and marks the nine days of the Virgin's feast in August. The local cultural association "ElpiZO" also runs a strawberry festival there, with sweets and ice cream from the local harvest, folk dance groups and live music.
In winter the weight shifts to Carnival. The Lechaina carnival goes back decades and keeps alive the Genitsaristikos dance, which locals treat as a memory of resistance from the Ottoman years, while in Andravida a night-time parade turns the centre into one big open-air party. Towards the sea, Chlemoutsi, the castle Geoffrey II of Villehardouin built in 1220-1223 to guard Andravida and the port of Glarentza, stands over the plain and Kyllini - a good excuse for an afternoon drive before the evening feast.
Common questions
Where can I find panigiria near Varda?+
In Varda itself with the Vouprasia nights in late June, in Nea Manolada with its strawberry festival and the Virgin's feast in August, at the monastery of Agios Nikolaos Spata, and at Carnival in Lechaina and Andravida. See the current calendar on Mood.
What is the Vouprasia festival in Varda?+
Varda's established cultural nights in late June on Plateia Eleftherias, organised by the Municipality of Andravida-Kyllini and the Varda Cultural and Educational Association. They close with evenings of traditional dance and a large glenti.
When does Agios Nikolaos Spata celebrate?+
Three times a year: on December 6, on May 10 for the translation of the saint's relics, and at Pentecost. The monastery lies about 17 kilometres east of Varda.