Crete Festivals and Events

Greece is big on festivals, and especially Crete. Festivals and events are held throughout the year, and it's a great experience if you happen to be in Crete when something is being celebrated.

In addition to the public and religious holidays, and the Saints’ Days and Name Days (the equivalent of birthdays) celebrated nationwide, Crete celebrates the island’s fertility with festivals devoted to wine, sultanas, chestnuts and other produce, and on top of that the major towns hold annual arts and cultural festivals too.

Name Days
The Greeks celebrate not their birthday but their name day – the feast day of the saint after which they are named. So, every Maria or every Mikalis in one area will get together to celebrate in some way. This frequently means a big party. If you happen upon such an event, you will be made very welcome, although a small payment may be requested of everyone to cover the cost of food and drink. Dancing and music frequently follow the meal.

January
1 New Year's Day, the Feast of St Basil. Public Holiday.
6 Feast of the Epiphany and the Blessing of the Waters, celebrated in ports around the island.

March
25 Independence Day. Public Holiday celebrating the commencement of the 1821 Revolution against the Turks. Also the Feast of the Annunciation.

Carnival
Celebrated forty days before Easter in many places, notably Sitia.

Easter
The dates vary and are usually different from the Christian Easter, but it is the biggest festival in the Greek Orthodox Year. There are religious processions which build up to Mass on Saturday night, followed by feasting on Easter Sunday. Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are all Public Holidays in Greece.

Greek Easter, from the page on Greece Travel Secrets of Crete Festivals and Events

Easter is the year's biggest celebration in Crete and throughout Greece



April
23 The Feast of Ayios Yiorgios, St George, the patron saint of shepherds. Much feasting in many rural communities.

May
1 May Day, when many people traditionally go on picnics into the countryside. Public Holiday.
20 The Battle of Crete. Commemorated with events in and around Chania for up to a week.
21 The Feast of Saints Constantine and Helena, celebrated in many churches and monasteries named after them, most notably the Arkadi Monastery. 

June
24 The Feast of St John the Baptist.
Late June. Naval Week, most notably celebrated in Soudha Bay.

Whit Sunday and Whit Monday are movable feasts celebrated seven weeks after Easter Sunday and Monday. Both are Public Holidays.

Summer

The Summer Arts Festival in Iraklion continues throughout the summer months.

From early July to mid-August the cultural festival called Kornaria takes place in Sitia.

In August and September the Renaissance Festival including international drama and music performances takes place in Rethymnon.

July
Late July. Rethymnon Wine Festival. Two weeks of tastings with music and dancing.

August
6 The Metamorphosis. Religious services and feasting, notably in Voukoulies (near Chania), Males (near Ierapetra) and Zakros, on the east coast.
15 The Feast of the Assumption, a Public Holiday.
25 The Feast of Ayios Titos, Crete’s patron saint. Celebrated across the island and with large processions in Iraklion.
Mid-August. The Sitia Sultana Festival lasts for a week and celebrates not only the local sultanas but the original grapes… and of course the wine made from them. Much feasting.
Late August. A traditional Cretan wedding takes place in Kritsa, to which all visitors to the island are invited.
Late August. On the night of the last full moon in August, a cultural event takes place in the Fortress at Sitia.

September
14 Feast of Ayios Stavros, a religious holiday celebrated in villages around Chania.

October
Mid-October. The Chestnut Festival takes place in western Crete in and around the village of Elos.
28 Ochi Day, a Public Holiday celebrated throughout Greece to commemorate the occasion when the Greek General Metaxas gave a one-word response, Ochi (‘No’), to Mussolini’s request to allow Italian troops into Greece in 1940.

November
7-9 The great explosion at the Arkadi Monastery is commemorated there.
21 Local holiday dedicated to the Mother of God with a service in the Cathedral in Chania.

December
6 Feast of Agios Nikolaos, the patron saint of seafarers, celebrated most notably in Agios Nikolaos itself, of course, but also in other smaller places around Crete which have the same name.
25 and 26. Christmas. Both Public Holidays in Greece. 

Rent a Car on Crete


Where to Stay on Crete



Some other Crete pages

  • Crete

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  • Zacharioudakis Winery

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  • Touring the Lyrarakis Winery on Crete

    Greece Travel Secrets tours the Lyrarakis Winery on Crete and learns about Crete grape varieties such as plyto, dafni, vidiano, vilana, mandilari and kotsifali.

  • The Icon Painter

    Icon painting is a centuries-old tradition in Crete and the rest of Greece, and Greece Travel Secrets meets a modern-day icon painter in Elounda on Crete.

  • The Herb Man of Kouses

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  • The Cretan Diet

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  • Stilianou Winery near Knossos

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  • The Snails House on Crete

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    The Samaria Gorge is one the longest gorges in Europe and doing the hike is one of the best and most popular things to do on Crete.

  • Rethymnon in Western Crete

    Rethymnon is the third-largest city in Crete and has a Venetian fortress, Archaeological Museum, Old Town area and Venetian harbour,

  • Phaistos Minoan Palace on Crete

    Greece Travel Secrets page on Phaistos or Faistos, the site of one of the finest Minoan palaces on Crete and is where the mysterious Phaistos Disc was found.

  • Paleohora and the South-West Coast

    The area east from Paleohora along the south-west coast of Crete includes resorts like Agia Galini, gorges like the Imbros Gorge and quieter towns like Sfakia.

  • Our Hire Car in Crete

    The travel tale Our Hire Car in Crete describes what it’s like when you go driving in Greece and get off the beaten track, resulting in kindnesses.

  • Matala Beach

    Matala Beach on Crete is a guest blog for Greece Travel Secrets from the We Love Crete website, inviting you to Awaken Your Inner Hippy in Matala, Crete.

  • Margarites

    Margarites is known on Crete for its pottery, with ceramics shops and workshops lining the streets of this charming small town not far from Rethymnon.

  • Manousakis Wine Tasting

    We visit and tour the Manousakis Winery on Crete with a wine-tasting and a chance to buy their tsikoudia, sea salt, olive oil and other goodies.

  • Malia and its Minoan Palace on Crete

    Malia on the north coast of Crete is renowned for its nightlife and beaches but also has the Minoan Palace of Malia, one of Crete's many archaeological sites.

  • Maleme and the German War Cemetery on Crete

    Maleme near Chania is where the people who died during the battle of Crete are buried, in the German War Cemetery with the Commonwealth War Cemetery nearby.

  • Making Rakomelo on Crete

    Greece Travel Secrets visits Crete and learns about making rakomelo from Jorgos Kourmoulis in Agouseliana.

  • Lonely Planet Crete

    Lonely Planet Crete is an excellent and thorough guide of almost 300 pages to the largest of the Greek islands.

  • Knossos

    Visiting Knossos near Iraklion is one of the best things to do on Crete, and this page has a history of the site with visitor information.

  • Irakleio

    Crete's capital and largest city is Irakleio, also called Iraklion or Heraklion, a large and busy place with good restaurants, museums and historical buildings.

  • How to Make Petimezi

    How to make Petimezi, the sweet Cretan syrup made from wine must, is explained to Greece Travel Secrets.

  • Hiking the Samaria Gorge

    Hiking the Samaria Gorge on Crete, one of the best things to do on Crete, by Greece Travel Secrets.

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