Photo source: Municipality of Athens
Athens will host a city-wide Carnival (Apokries) program from February 12 to 23, with 65 free events taking place across 50 locations, the Municipality of Athens recently announced.
The program spans neighborhood squares, cultural venues, markets and public spaces, combining traditional Carnival customs, live music, family-focused activities and large public celebrations. The Carnival season will wrap up with Clean Monday (the first day of Orthodox Lent that marks the start of the fasting period leading up to Easter), which will once again be marked with open-air festivities and kite flying on Filopappos Hill.
Athens Mayor Haris Doukas invited residents and visitors to take part in the celebrations, calling on the public to “fill the city’s squares with music and a festive spirit”.
Program highlights
Photo source: Municipality of Athens
A series of flagship events will shape this year’s Carnival program, from traditional Tsiknopempti celebrations in the city center to family-friendly festivities, live music performances, and the grand Carnival Sunday parade.
- Tsiknopempti festivities (February 12) will begin with a traditional carnival procession by the Cultural Society of Orchestral Art “Bacchai,” starting from Syntagma Square at 11:00 and ending at Kotzia Square with a reenactment of the Kordelata custom of Naxos.
- Varvakeios Market will once again serve as the main hub of the day’s celebrations, with the municipality’s Philharmonic Orchestra setting the rhythm at 11:00, followed by traditional dances and a folk concert by the Greek Music Workshop.
- Children will take center stage throughout the Carnival program, with cultural venues and neighborhoods hosting activities that blend tradition, creativity, and fun. Events will take place at the Creative Learning Centers, the Art Gallery, the Arts Center, the Children’s Museum of Athens, and municipal libraries.
Photo source: Municipality of Athens
- Additional children’s festivities will also be held in squares and parks across the city, featuring music, dancing, face painting, balloon creations, and games.
- On Sunday, February 15, families will gather at Zappeion at 11 am for “The Carnival of the World,” one of Athens’ most colorful celebrations, featuring dancing, stilt performers, a Chinese dragon, and many surprises.
- Music will fill the city throughout the season, with the Philharmonic Orchestra, Big Band, and Greek Music Workshop performing across Athens. Percussion ensembles and traditional groups will accompany customary routes, alongside concerts of carnival songs and Zakynthian cantatas.
- Greek Carnival customs from across the country will come to life through cultural clubs and associations, including the Kordelati of Naxos and the Wedding of Flambouras of the Sarakatsanai. The Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Aggeliki Hatzimichali” will host, until April 19, the painting exhibition “Let’s go as before…”.
- The festivities will culminate on Carnival Sunday, February 22, with a grand parade starting at 17:00 from Syntagma Square and ending at Kotzia Square, where a major carnival party with live music will take place at 19:00.
Photo source: Municipality of Athens
The Carnival season will conclude on Clean Monday, February 23, with the traditional Koulouma gathering on Filopappos Hill, featuring kite flying, live music and an island-style communal feast.
More information about the program is available here.
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