Crete (Chania)Arts & culture
Battle of Crete commemoration
Late May
Week of events around 20–27 May commemorating the WWII battle. Most events centred on the cemetery at Souda and various villages where the resistance was fiercest.
Greek island festivals in May 2027
23 festivals on 21 islands, day by day. Movable feasts are computed for 2027.
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Date announced each year
IosMusic
Omiria (Homer festival)
May
Ios claims Homer's grave — tradition puts it at Plakotos in the north — and honours him each May with the Omiria, the island's main cultural festival under UNESCO's auspices: performances, exhibitions, concerts and contests. A quieter, older side of an island better known for its summer party.
Poros Poseidonia running races
mid-May weekend · Poros Town
A new municipal running weekend (first edition 16-17 May 2026, 900 runners) with 10 km and 5 km races along the coast road and through the pines, plus children's distances; a 2027 edition is announced. Entry via the festival site; May sea is already swimmable.
Panigiri of Panagia Vrysiotissa (first Sunday of May)
first Sunday of May · Vrysiotissa monastery, near Tarampados
On the first Sunday of May the icon of the Virgin is carried in procession from the church in Tarampados to the monastery of Vrysiotissa, where an open-air liturgy is held and cars and pickups are lined up to be blessed. Afterwards the villages nearby offer kerasmata. A rural Tinos scene few visitors see.
1 May · Saturday
ChiosReligious
Rouketopolemos (Rocket War)
1 May
In Vrondados, two rival parishes — Agios Markos and Panagia Erithiani — fire tens of thousands of homemade rockets at each other's bell towers across a 400m valley, while the midnight Easter liturgies continue inside both churches. Possibly the most spectacular Easter event in Greece. Watch from the slopes of Mount Aepos for safety.
CorfuArts & culture
Botides (pot smashing)
1 May
At exactly 11am on Holy Saturday, signaling the First Resurrection, residents throw large clay water-filled pots from their balconies onto Liston Square below. The crash of thousands of pots, accompanied by philharmonic bands, is meant to drive away evil. Adopted from the Venetians. Arrive by 9am for a viewing spot.
Keion Gefseis food festival, Ioulida
1 May
A new municipal food night (2nd edition 1 May 2026) that turns Ioulida into a tasting walk: stations at the Piazza, the main uphill street, Skaki and the square, where local producers and tavernas hand out samples of Kea specialities — paspalas, loza, thyme honey, the local cheeses — with a chef's menu inspired by Kea recipes, a sweets workshop by the women's association and dance groups to finish. Free; Ioulida is car-free, so park at the entrance and walk.
2 May · Sunday
Burning of Judas, Perdika
2 May
On Easter Sunday evening (6.30 pm) the fishing village of Perdika revives the burning of Judas: a procession from the primary school down to the harbour, where the effigy goes up in flames, the Vathy cultural association dances and the tavernas and locals hand out treats. Perdika's quay is the best place on Aegina for an Easter Sunday fish dinner anyway.
KalymnosCarnival
Easter Sunday dynamite on the hills, Pothia
2–3 May
Kalymnos does Easter louder than anywhere in Greece. Rival groups, each 'owning' one of the two mountains above Pothia, hurl homemade dynamite sticks across the harbour all through the Resurrection liturgy — a deafening barrage that rattles windows in the town below. A sponge-diver's tradition rooted in the island's resistance streak. Watch from a distance: this is genuinely loud and genuinely explosive.
3 May · Monday
Choros tis Lambris (Easter Monday dance), Paliachora
3 May
On Easter Monday at 11 am the Cultural Society 'O Kapodistrias' revives the old Aeginetan Easter dance at the Stavros, the open ground among the Byzantine chapels of the abandoned hill-town of Paliachora: live music, the old songs and a circle dance that everyone is pulled into. Wear walking shoes for the stony path and go on to the monastery of Agios Nektarios just below.
FolegandrosReligious
Panagia of Folegandros
3–9 May
The icon of the Panagia is carried from house to house across the island for the week after Easter — a procession unique to Folegandros, with locals hosting the icon overnight in turn.
6 May · Thursday
Panigiri of Zoodochos Pigi monastery (Bright Friday)
6–7 May · Moni Zoodochou Pigis (Kalamos)
Anafi's spring feast: on the Friday after Easter the monastery of Zoodochos Pigi at the foot of Kalamos rock, on the site of the ancient Apollo sanctuary, holds a big panigiri that draws people over from Santorini and the other islands, with meals offered by the monastery. It comes right after the island's Easter customs (the burning of Judas in the Chora square on Easter Sunday afternoon), so a week on Anafi over Orthodox Easter covers both; it's a 2-hour walk or a rough road from Chora.
NaxosReligious
Pilgrimage of Panagia Argokoiliotissa, Koronos
6–7 May · Koronos (Argokoili)
On the Friday of Bright Week (five days after Easter) the whole of Naxos climbs to Argokoili above Koronos, where the icon of the Virgin was found in 1836: the icon is carried down from the old church on Thursday evening and back up with a huge procession around 10:30 on Friday morning, with the Metropolitan, a vigil overnight and stalls selling food. Many walk up from Koronos; if you drive, park early on the road below because it fills for kilometres.
Panagia Kamariotissa & sardine feast, Kamariotissa
6 May
On the Thursday after Easter the port village celebrates its Panagia with a procession and a re-enactment of the finding of the icon, followed by a sardine feast on the harbour. The following Sunday (Thomas Sunday) Chora keeps the Five Martyrs with procession and dances. Spring, so bring a jacket; ferries from Alexandroupoli are busy with returning islanders.
SikinosPanigiri
Panigiri of Zoodochos Pigi monastery, Chora
6–7 May · Chora (Kastro)
The fortified 17th-century monastery above Kastro celebrates on Bright Friday, the first Friday after Easter: on the eve the sponsoring family lays on a communal meal at the monastery for the whole village, and in return keeps the icon in their house for the year. It's the island's spring feast and, with the Easter week, the best reason to come to Sikinos out of season; climb the steps from Kastro before dusk.
7 May · Friday
Panigiri of Agios Ioannis Spiliotis at the Cave
7–8 May · Agios Ioannis (Cave of Antiparos)
The chapel of Agios Ioannis at the mouth of the famous cave celebrates St John the Theologian on 8 May, with vespers on the 7th and a panigiri on the terrace outside: traditional dances, kerasmata, local dishes and wine. It is Antiparos's best-known feast and a rare chance to be at the cave with locals rather than tour groups.
Panigiri of Zoodochos Pigi Monastery (Bright Friday)
7 May
The 1720 monastery in the pines on the east side of Poros, 4 km from town, celebrates on the Friday after Easter with a liturgy and an open feast in the grounds that draws a large crowd from Poros and Galatas. Take the bus or a taxi-boat; Easter week on Poros is mild, green and cheap.
Panigiri of Zoodochos Pigi (Bright Friday), Skiathos Town
7 May
The Friday after Easter is Zoodochos Pigi, and since 2026 the Dimos Skiathou has revived the old daytime panigiri in the courtyard of the church of that name in town, from about 11 am after the liturgy, with music, dancing and food. It is a family, Easter-week affair rather than a night glenti, and a good excuse to be on the island when it is still green and quiet.
15 May · Saturday
LesvosPanigiri
Feast of Taxiarchis Mantamados (Sunday of the Myrrhbearers)
15–16 May
The monastery of the Archangel at Mantamados, with its famous relief icon, celebrates its second feast on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers (two weeks after Easter) with a hierarchical vespers on Saturday and liturgy and icon procession on Sunday; around 7,000 people walk the 35 km from Mytilene, others come on horseback. The old bull sacrifice in the courtyard has been banned, but the village butchers still cook kiskek all night and hand it out to pilgrims on Sunday. Also kept on 8 November.
20 May · Thursday
Feast of Agioi Konstantinos and Eleni, Nea Styra
20–21 May
The parish church of the seaside resort of Nea Styra is dedicated to Constantine and Helen and keeps 20-21 May with an episcopal vespers and liturgy (two metropolitans in 2025), the informal start of the season on this stretch of coast opposite Attica. Religious rather than a glenti, but the tavernas on the front open for it.
KastellorizoReligious
Feast of Agioi Konstantinos & Eleni (patrons)
20–21 May · Megisti (Kastellorizo town)
The metropolitan church of Agioi Konstantinos and Eleni, with its columns from the temple of Apollo at Patara, is the island's patron church: great vespers on 20 May, liturgy on the 21st and the icon carried through the lanes and along the harbour with the navy, coast guard and everyone else in tow, then treats on the waterfront. Late May is a lovely, empty time to be there; flights from Rhodes fill for it.
23 May · Sunday
PaxosReligious
Litany of Panagia Vellianiton, Sunday of the Paralytic, Gaios
23 May · Gaios (Velianitatika)
On the fourth Sunday after Easter the ancient icon of the Dormition is carried from Agios Georgios in Velianitatika through the olive groves, chapels and lanes of Gaios to the islet monastery, with the Metropolitan of Corfu, the schools and the philharmonic, and blessings at decorated stops along the way; broth and meat are again served under the pergolas at the monastery gate. Falls in May, a lovely time on Paxos; the whole thing starts after the 9:30am liturgy.
26 May · Wednesday
Evia (North)Religious
Feast of Agios Ioannis o Rosos, Prokopi
26–27 May
The biggest pilgrimage in Evia: the incorrupt relic of St John the Russian lies in the 1951 church at Prokopi, and on 26-27 May tens of thousands come, many walking overnight from Chalkida or Mantoudi, for the vigil and the grand procession of the silver reliquary on the morning of the 27th. The shrine has a 160-bed hostel and a canteen, and the village fills with stalls. Roads into Prokopi are closed to traffic on the day, so park on the Mantoudi side and walk.
Dates are resolved for 2027: fixed saint's days as they fall, movable feasts computed from Orthodox Easter (2027: 2 May). Panigiria are usually held on the eve of the saint's day, and a village occasionally shifts one to the nearest weekend — where an entry says "confirm locally", the date comes from recent years' announcements rather than an official calendar. If you know better, the feedback button exists for exactly this.