Greece Holidays - 2002

New Year's Day is the first day of the year. On the modern Gregorian calendar, it is celebrated on January 1.The people in Greece regard the New Year to be the most important day for celebrations. The New Year in Greece is not only celebrated as the first day of the year but they also celebrate it as St. Basil's day. On New Year's Eve in Greece it is customary for most people to gather in the town's center, or plaza, for last minute shopping or just a pleasant stroll. On the main roads, teenagers and other young ones create a maniacal scene by declaring a bloodless war on each other, using plastic clubs, giant plastic hammers, foam spray and whistles as "weapons." In Greece it is the custom to exchange gifts on the New Year instead of Christmas. The presents are delivered by Saint Basil (Agios Vasilis). Agios Vasilis is the Greek Santa Claus.

Epiphany is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. It falls on 6 January.In Greece, the feast is colloquially called the "Phota" and customs revolve around the Great Blessing of the Waters. It marks the end of the traditional ban on sailing, as the tumultuous winter seas are cleansed of the mischief-prone "kalikantzaroi", the goblins that try to torment God-fearing Christians through the festive season.

Clean Monday also known as Pure Monday, Ash Monday, Monday of Lent or Green Monday, it is the first day of the Eastern Orthodox Christian and Eastern Catholic Great Lent. It is a movable feast that occurs at the beginning of the 7th week before Orthodox Easter Sunday.Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece, a day when families go to the countryside and beaches for picnics and kite-flying. All Greeks are enjoying the traditional food of the day, including lagana, special bread that is eaten only on this day, prawns and octopus, cabbage leaves stuffed with rise, fish roe salad and halva with semolina.

On March 25, 1821 the bishop Germanos of Patras raised the Greek flag at the Monastery of Agia Lavra in Peloponnese and one more revolution started against the Turks.In Athens the day is celebrated with a full military parade, with army vehicles and personnel marching through the main street in front of the Parliament building. On Antiparos, however, the children were the ones placed in the centre of the celebration of the day.

On Great and Holy Friday the Orthodox Church commemorates the death of Christ on the Cross. This is the culmination of the observance of His Passion by which our Lord suffered and died for our sins.In Greece, Good Friday is considered a public holiday so most of the public offices, schools and banks will be closed. Most of the museums will be closed as well (but those which aren't usually offer free admission for everyone).

Greek Easter, the country's most important religious festival, arrives accompanied by the smells of spring, the rebirth of nature and the flower-carpeted ground.Many of the traditions that bond the generations together occur during the Easter feast. Easter is the most sacred and celebrated of all of the Greek holidays. It begins with a 40-day fast, of the 40 days, one week is chosen for the complete fast, during that time only natural foods are eaten. No meats, dairy, fish, poultry or dishes that are prepared with these foods can be eaten. Shellfish can be eaten, however three days a week are meatless days during the remaining weeks of the fast. During Holy Week complete fasting is to take place. Palm Sunday, which is the first day of the Holy Week, is a day when only fish and fish courses are served. The Carnival or Apokria season starts on the Sunday of Teloni and Fariséou and ends on Shrovetide Sunday with the Burning of the Carnival King...setting fire to an enormous paper maché effigy of Judas in the early evening. The fireworks and feasting continue throughout the night. The next day, Kathara Deftéra or Kathari Deutera, is known as Clean Monday or Ash Monday

On Bright Monday the Church commemorates the Sweet-Kissing (Glykophilousa) Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox cultures.

May 1 is International Labor Day. In Greece it's celebrated with parades and other festivities. While public institutions are closed and the traffic might be disrupted in major towns, the summer season is just starting. On the same day, Greeks celebrate the Festival of Flowers, a celebration with ancient roots linked to the goddess Demeter.

Holy Spirit Monday or Whit Monday 'Agiou Pnevma' Fifty days after Easter. This religious holiday marks the descent of the Holy Spirit to the disciples. It is celebrated with church services decorated with pennants. Greeks use this holiday to go away for a long weekend, usually to the Greek islands.The day commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of flames to the Apostles. Many Christians recognize this event as the birth of the Church.The holiday is celebrated in Greece as Pentecost or Holy Spirit Monday.

The feast of the Dormition is the last great feast in the Church calendar year. It is preceded by a two week fast. The glorious lot of the Ever Blessed Virgin in the role of God's salvation of the world made all her life wonderful and exemplary.

Ohi Day (also spelled Ochi Day,Anniversary of the "No") is celebrated throughout Greece, Cyprus and the Greek communities around the world on October 28 each year, to commemorate Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas' rejection of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on October 28, 1940.All major cities have a military parade and many Greek Orthodox churches hold special services. Coastal towns have naval parades or other celebrations on the waterfront. On every anniversary, most public buildings and residences are decorated with Greek flags.

Traditionally the Christmas holiday period lasts 12 days in Greece. There are many customs associated with the "twelve day of Christmas," some very old and others relatively recent, like the decorated tree and the turkey on the Christmas-day table.Greeks will normally start decorating their homes comparatively late, ie. just a few days before Christmas when housewives will start making the traditional Christmas sweets such as "kourabiedhes" and "melomakarana".Christmas shopping in Greece is an absolute delight. Streets are packed with people buying Christmas gifts for their loved ones, as well as Christmas carolers singing Christmas songs.

On the second day of Christ's Nativity, the Church unites its joy over the newborn Saviour of the world with a fervent glorification of the Mother of God.