Sports
Olympic flame ceremony (April 16, 2024)
The Olympic Flame will be lit on in ancient Olympia, Peloponnese on 16 April 2024. From Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games, the flame is carried across Greece to Athens.
The flame will arrive in the Greek capital ahead of the handover ceremony to the Paris 2024 organising committee at the Panathenaic Stadium on April 26.
Following the ceremony, the Olympic flame will spend the night at the French Embassy in Athens before boarding the Belem (a 19th-century French tall ship) the following day to head for Marseille, France, where it will arrive on 8 May, just over two and a half months before the start of the Games in Paris on July 26.
The lighting of the Olympic flame is a symbolic moment that has been a tradition of the Olympic Games since 1936 when 3,000 bearers delivered it from Olympia to Berlin.
Historians suggest the flame was born in a temple erected by the ancient Greeks to honor Hera, powerful queen of the mythological gods. Her shrine stands in the archaeological site in Olympia where the first recorded Games were held in 776 B.C.
Religious Feasts
St. George Feast (April 23)
Traditionally celebrated on April 23, Saint George is considered the protector of the Infantry and the soldiers in Greece. Many areas of the country devote big ceremonies and fairs to his name that aim at reassuring the Saint’s blessings. Arachova in particular where the saint is the town’s patron, hosts a local festival called “panigiraki” which has its roots in Byzantine times. Locals dress in colorful traditional clothes, they sing and dance and they also repeat the Easter tradition of roasting lambs on the streets of the town.
Trade Fairs
Kastoria International Fur Fair (April 25-27, 2024)
Since 1976, Kastoria International Fur Fair is bringing together leading Greek and international fur companies while creating a platform for significant trade deals. Ready-made garments made exclusively of fur for both men and women, leather goods and other products combining fur, leather, and fabric as well as a wide range of accessories, are available to the Fair visitors. The Fair also features workshops for young international designers, runway shows, parties and events.
For more info visit Fur Fair Kastoria
Mediterranean Yacht Show (April 27-May 1, 2024)
The Mediterranean Yacht Show (MEDYS) is an annual event in Greece that provides an opportunity for yacht owners and brokers to showcase their luxury crewed yachts to a broad audience from the domestic and international yachting world. Having evolved into the world’s largest crewed yacht charter show, MEDYS is organized by the Greek Yachting Association and highlights the elite selection of licensed and fully compliant professional yachts and crews in the Mediterranean, representing the epitome of excellence. MEDYS is set to return for its tenth edition in the town of Nafplion, Peloponnese on April 27, 2024.
For more info visit MEDYS