Carnival Period
«Apokries» is the Greek word for carnival so, among the customs of the season, carnival events are in full swing.
Apokries or Carnival period in Greece, is the three weeks before Clean Monday when Lent begins.
They are identified with the period of the Triodion, a moving period in the Orthodox Christian tradition, the time when people prepare for the great fast of Easter Lent.
On these days the custom of feasting, entertainment and "masquerade", of disguise, takes place, which has its roots in the most ancient "Dionysian celebrations" of the ancient Greeks, where people disguised themselves, danced, sang and drank wine and the fun peaked in honor of God Dionysus.
Every region, town and village, has its own traditions and customs of Apokries, which have been preserved to this day although, they are considered as a red flag for the Church, due to their pagan origins.
Tsiknopempti is is a focal point in the Carnival celebrations throughout Greece.
The word " Tsiknopempti" comes from the word "tsikna" (the smell of grilled meat) and the word "Pempti" (Thursday).
It is celebrated every year, on Thursday of the 2nd week of the Triodium period to give households the opportunity to consume in a festive and joyful way whatever red meat they have left before the Lenten fast.
On Tsiknopempti, all over Greece, the roasting of meat has been established in a customary way, in houses, pavements, and squares with a generally festive mood for celebration and dancing.
On the last Sunday of the Carnival season, one day before Clean Monday, the carnival events culminate and traditional carnival customs are revived all over Greece.
The myths and legends of our country come to the forefront through costumes, dancing, feasting, and singing.
The biggest carnival event in Greece is held in Patra for two months, while on the last Sunday of the carnival season, there is the big parade of floats led by the effigy of the god of carnival and a sequence of various other masquerades, with the participation of more than 40,000 carnivalists and a large number of visitors.
Other centers of carnival parades in Greece with a large turnout of people are Xanthi, Rethymno, Moschato, Attica, Plaka in Athens, Thebes with its famous "Vlach wedding", Naoussa, Syros etc.