Holiday Calendar of Crete

2009
1 Jan New Year's Day.
6 Jan Epiphany.
10 Mar Orthodox Shrove Monday.
25 Mar Independence Day.
17 Apr Orthodox Good Friday.
20 Apr Orthodox Easter Monday.
1 May Labour Day.
8 Jun Orthodox Whit Monday.
15 Aug Assumption.
28 Oct Ochi Day.
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec Boxing Day.

Highlights

Upcoming Events

February-March
Rethymno Carnival
Rethymno
Grand Carnival including shows and a parade.


June
International Art Festival
Chania
Mult-ethnic exhibition with many different kinds of art.


July
Cretan Wine Festival
Rethymno
Sample some local Cretan wine.


Yakinthia Festival
Anogia
The theatre presents a different themed and cultured programme each year


July-August
Renaissance Festival of Rethymno
Rethymno
Renaissance festival with theatre, music, dance and visual arts.


July-September
Chania Summer Festival
Chania
Concerts, ballet, Shakespeare performances, exhibitions, Cretan dancing and music.


Heraklion Summer Festival
Heraklion
Open air theatres with Opera, ballet and performing arts.


August
Sultana Festival
Sitia
Cretan dances in the street as you sample many sultana delicacies.


November
Tsikoudia Festival
Voukolies
Celebration of Tsikoudia a strong distilled spirit served in many variations.


St Minas Parade
Heraklion, Kalokerinou Street
Parade to commemorate patron saint of Heraklion.


December
St. Nikolaos Day
Agios Nikalaos
Feasts and gift giving to mark the start of the festive season.

Related resources

Rethymno Grand Carnival

The Rethymnon Carnival is here again, faithful to its rendezvous, like every year.

Rethymnon, a city on the north coast of Crete, invites you to this fantastic festival.

The 2009 Rethymnon Carnival is dedicated to Water, the most precious element in nature.

The Carnival begins on 6 February, with a festive event held in Rethymnon almost every day.

The crowning moments are Carnival Thursday (Tsiknopempti) on 19 February and of course the Grand Parade down Koundouriti Avenue, starting at 2 p.m. on 1 March.

Cretan Wine Festival

Chania Summer Festival

July August - September: Cultural Summer Events of the Municipality of Chania. They include music and stage performances at the theatre of Eastern Trench, Public Garden, Venizelio music school, Park of Peace and Friendship and other events in several neighbourhoods of the town. Cultural Summer Events are also organised by the municipality of Kisamos, Nea Kydonia, Pelekanos and Georgioupolis

The annual Sultana Festival in Sitia at the beginning of August.

Sultanas are the prime export of the small fishing town and its environs, to the east of the island. Celebrating the crop's harvest, the town's main square hosts traditional Cretan dancing, as well as buffets of local delicacies, along with the local wines.
Inhabited since Minoan times, Sitia contains so many Classical and Hellenistic ruins that it has its own small museum of archaeology, open to the public daily