Patrino Karnivale – A Greek Tradition

I love hearing about traditions from other countries and this week I am pleased to introduce Mary from The Boondocks Blog to tell us about the Greek Tradition of Carnival or Patrino Karnavali as it is know in Greece.

“Patrino Karnavali” is the biggest carnival event in Greece and has been part of history for 180 years.  Usually,  the events begin on 17 January each year and last until Ash Monday.

Mary shares here experience with us and writes……

Hi all!  It’s Mary visiting all the way from Greece and the Boondocks blog. The reason I call it that is because I’m a city girl who has been living in the country these past 20 years and so it feels a bit like the boondocks to me.

I am here to talk about one of our many traditions – and we have a lot. Every year we start the Lent period at about this time of year but a few days before we begin the serious job of fasting we have a big blow out in the form of a carnival celebration.

The carnival is celebrated throughout the whole country and in some cities there is a big to do.  In our neck of the woods the locals celebrate by having parades and floats.  The other day, I was fortunate enough to catch the parade at a nearby town.  It’s very humble but with lots of color.

The Parade kicked off with the entrance of the Queen on a float. It was a bit chilly but she put on a brave face.

Next we had a group of local dancers wearing traditional Greek costumes.

Below is a float of a tree with an assortment of fruit. I live in a farming town and many of the people here have farms and make a living by growing oranges and lemons.

At the parade we have a tradition of satirizing the politicians and this year was no exception. Below is a Himalayan cat symbolizing the broken promises of the prime minister… and there were many.

And we end the carnival every year with a parade of horses. First a little horse.

Then we have the majestic float.

And finally the horses parade down the street. Some of them are quite scared since they’re not used to the noise and festivities

And of course no carnival parade would be complete without the children! This little fellow was happy to pose for me.

The following day is Clean Monday. On this day weather permitting we fly kites and enjoy the outdoors by having a picnic with vegetarian food to kick off Lent season. But that is a story for another post. I wish everyone a happy spring.

My thanks to Sue for being so kind and gracious to invite me to visit her and to share a bit of my country with all of you.

About Mary

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