Corfu Festivals and Events
Saints days, Carnival and, above all, Easter are reasons for Corfiots to come out on the streets of towns and villages to celebrate the many Corfu festivals and events.
Celebrating Easter in Greece
If your visit to a particular village coincides with the local saint’s day, you can hardly fail to be caught up in the general atmosphere of excitement as the saint’s image is taken from his church and paraded through the streets in a lively procession. Afterwards there will be feasting and dancing, which you may well be invited to join.
Easter on Corfu
Most impressive of all is Easter, the principal festival of the Orthodox year. Corfu has its own spectacular way of observing the feast, making this a good time to visit Corfu Town, though the weather can be uncertain and the evenings will be cool. Solemn processions take place on Good Friday, a somber day of mourning.
On Easter Saturday morning the remains of Saint Spyridon are carried through the streets in a brilliant procession. See our full page on the Church of Saint Spyridon.
What follows is unique to Corfu Town. At 11am the streets are emptied and mayhem breaks out, as unwanted crockery is hurled from every window on to the streets below. Nobody knows the origin of this extraordinary custom.
Evening Mass climaxes at midnight, when the priest announces that Christ is risen. Electric lights are switched off and the priest ignites a solitary candle, from which the worshippers then light their own candles. Immediately church bells ring out, and fireworks explode as the people make their way home for the Easter feast.
In Corfu Town, the announcement of Christ’s Resurrection is made from the bandstand on the Esplanade and is followed by church bells, music from the town bands and fireworks. Easter Sunday is a day for family celebrations, centred on a meal of roast lamb. There is often a communal evening celebration, at which visitors will be welcome.
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.
Some Cool Corfu Souvenirs
Paleokastritsa Luggage Tag
Corfu Cypresses Capri Leggings
Other Corfu Festivals and Events
Carnival is celebrated in Corfu Town on the last Sunday before Lent. After a colourful procession of floats accompanied by the town bands, an effigy representing the spirit of Carnival is ritually burnt.
'Clean Monday’, the first day of Lent, is celebrated with a picnic (weather permitting) of seafood, salad, olives, special unleavened bread and halva, a honeyed sweet containing nuts and sesame seeds.
Corfu’s patron saint, St Spiridhon, is the focus of several festivals. His remains are paraded in four annual processions and his name day, 12 December, is shared by about half the male population of the island. On this day, the saint’s body in its silver coffin is stood upright for the faithful to kiss his velvet slipper.
Our Pick of Greek Islands Guides
Other Corfu Pages
Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to stay in north-west and central Corfu including luxury mansions, inexpensive rooms, and resort hotels.
Corfu Town’s Old Fortress is the town’s most striking landmark, standing east of the Old Town on top of a rocky promontory.
Corfu or Kerkyra is the main island in the Greek Ionian islands with Corfu Town being one of the most attractive of Greek island capitals.
This Lawrence Durrell walk takes you from Kaminaki Beach in northern Corfu to the White House in Kalami where the writer Lawrence Durrell lived for four year.
Corfu’s wildlife includes rare and colourful birds, snakes, lizards, fireflies, and insects, with plenty of places to watch the wildlife like lakes and lagoons.
Donna Dailey of Greece Travel Secrets visits Albania by boat from Corfu Town, staying overnight and seeing archaeological sites with Sipa Tours.
Greece Travel Secrets picks the best time to visit Corfu, with a monthly summary of the weather, plus hotel prices and special events to help plan a visit.
Kassiopi is a popular tourist resort on the northeast coast of Corfu with a sandy beach, Byzantine fortress, old church, and lots of places to stay and to eat.
Greece Travel Secrets has its list of favourite places where you can eat in north-west Corfu, including in Paleokastritsa, Pelekas, and Ayios Stefanos.
Northern Corfu’s beaches and villages include busy resorts and secluded beaches, with several hill and mountain villages well worth visiting.
The Korission Lagoon on the west coast of Corfu is also called Lake Korission and has abundant wildlife, especially birds, and one of the best beaches on Corfu.
Sidari is a popular holiday resort on the north coast of Corfu with beaches and unusual rock formations as well as plenty of places to eat and to stay.
Corfu’s special cuisine includes dishes like sofrito and pastitsade and the chance to try ginger beer and kumquats.
Kalami in north-west Corfu is a hidden gem which many people know about because writer Lawrence Durrell once lived here in The White House.
The best beaches on Corfu, chosen by Greece Travel Secrets, include Paleokastritsa, Mirtiotissa, Sidari and Cape Asprokavos.
Corfu Town is the capital of Corfu and of the Ionian Islands and has museums, two forts, several museums, churches, and many other attractions.
There are two sides to every Greek island, the tourist and the traditional, and this drive from Corfu Town through northern Corfu shows the two faces of Corfu.
This Mount Pantokrator drive takes you to the top of Corfu’s highest mountain with wonderful views to Albania, mainland Greece, and around Corfu.
This drive to Palaiokastritsa starts at Corfu airport and takes you across the Ropa Plan and through hill villages before returning to Corfu Town.
Angelokastro is a 13th-century hilltop fortress with breath-taking views near Paleokastritsa on the Greek island of Corfu in the Ionian Islands.
Corfu writers and artists inspired by the island include both residents and visitors, like Gerald and Lawrence Durrell, Edward Lear, and Henry Miller.
Greece Travel Secrets picks where to stay in northern Corfu with budget and luxury hotels in Sidari, Daphnila Bay, Kontokali, Ipsos, Barbati and more.
The Achilleion Palace is one of the most visited sights on Corfu and contains a museum and impressive gardens with wonderful views over the coast.
The Corfu Trail runs from the southernmost point of Corfu at Cape Asprokavos and winds for 220km (137 miles) to the northernmost point near Andinioti Lagoon.
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