1. Paxos International Music Festival: the Autumn Chamber Music Festival
The festival was founded in 1986 by English classic music lover John Gough, with support from cultural institutions and music enthusiasts. Gough, an admirer of the island, founded the Paxos Festival Trust to help with the music education of the children of the island and to make classical music accessible to a wider audience. The festival takes place between August and mid-September and includes performances by internationally acclaimed musicians.
2. Religious Music Festival of Patmos
The festival which takes place in early September was launched in 2001. It has gained an international reputation. Performances over six consecutive evenings are held before the Sacred Cave of the Apocalypse and feature leading Greek international performers and ensembles.
3. Xanthi Old Town Festival
The festival has become a major event for the Thracian city since its inception in 1990. The old town which rose from the rubble of two earthquakes in 1829 is one of the best-preserved in Greece. The old town contained separate ethnic Greek, Muslim and Jewish neighbourhoods (mahalas) each with their place of worship at the centre. Local groups mobilise hundreds of volunteers to organize events in the old city over a 10-day period. The festival includes concerts, plays, traditional dance and music performances. There is also a chess tournaments and guided tours around the neighbourhoods.
4. Armata, Spetses
This is a dual feast on September 8 that commemorates the naval Battle of Spetses of 1822, and the feast day of Armata Virgin Mary. The chapel of Panagia Armata which is dedicated to the Birth of the Virgin is the venue for vespers on the eve and a divine liturgy on the day of the feast. The highlight of the festival is the re-enactment of the battle culminating in the burning of a model of the Turkish flagship and a fireworks’ display in the harbour. There is also a cultural component to the festival with music concerts, plays and dance performances by Greek and international groups.
READ MORE: Six summer festivals worth travelling to Greece for
5. Spatharia Shadow Theatre Fair, Marousi, Athens
Named after famed shadow theatre artist Evgenios Spatharis, the five-day festival in early September is hosted by the municipality of Marousi and is free to the public. Spatharis played a key role in popularising Karagiozis and gained an international reputation in the process. In 1991, he founded Museum of Shadow Theatre in Marousi – the first of its kind in the world.
6. Cycladic Gastronomy Festival Nikolaos Tselementes, Sifnos, Cyclades
Launched in 2007, the festival commemorates Greek chef Nikolas Tselementes (1878-1958) who was born on the island of Sifnos. In 1932, Tselementes published the first comprehensive book on Greek cuisine. Participants who are either professional chefs or home cooks from each of the Cyclades islands take part in the festival that is focused on the village of Artemonas. As well as a cooking contest, there are folk concerts and dances as well as reenactments.
7. The Rice Fair, Nea Malgara in Thessaloniki
This festival, another gastronomic delight, celebrates the most famous product of the region, rice. The village of Nea Malgara hosts the five-day fair starting just before the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and include a religious fair, as well as music and dance performances by local folk groups. The final night of the festival is marked by a music night with those attending offered rice-based meals. The regional dish is Mussel Pilaf.
8. Great Days of Nemea Wine Festival, Nemea, Corinth
The region is the producer of the Agiorgitiko grape which is the mostly widely used red grape variety in the country. The three-day festival begins at the start of September, the month of the grape harvest. Visitors have the opportunity to visit the local vineyards, wineries, watch the wine making process and sample the wines of the region.
READ MORE: An ode to Nemesis and nod Nemean wine
9. The Halva Festival in Farsala, near Larissa
If you like Halva then Farsala is the place to be in mid-September. The town has been feted as making the best halva in Greece since the early 19th Century. The halva of Farsala is said to owe its distinctive taste to the local water, as well as the use of fresh sheep and goat milk butter but what distinguishes it the most is the caramelised crust of Halvas Farsalon. The festival features halva workshops and exhibition halls featuring varieties of halva and other products of the region. And should you tire of halva, there are traditional music and dance performances as well as a choral festival.
10. Historic festivals
Thermopylia, Lamia.
The festival was launched in 2010 with the opening of the interactive museum that was built next to the archaeological site of the famous battle of 480 BC. Starting in early September and lasting up to four days, the festival begins with a archaeological-historical conference and includes art exhibitions and book presentations and an outdoor concert.
The Leonidas Trophy is a 25km race held a few days after the Thermopylia. The course follows the route that Efialtes took to lead the Persian forces behind the Greek lines at Thermopylae. About 300 people take part in the event.
Salamina, Attica.
Held between 22 and 29 September, the festival commemorates one of the great naval battles in history – the defeat of the Persian navy by a Greek coalition of forces in 480BC. Delegations from the 23 city-states that took part in the battle attend the celebrations as well as ambassadors and foreign representatives. The celebrations include rowing races, information days, theatrical performances including Aeschylus’ the Persians and parades
* Information is drawn from A Greek Folk Journey, Travel Culture & Gastronomy by Terina Armenakis. There are updates via A Greek Folk Journey Instagram link.