Calendar
Events in Greece
Festivals, holidays and the dates that change a trip — Easter, 15 August, the Athens Marathon, the Thessaloniki film festivals — soonest first. Only dates we could verify are shown as exact; the rest are marked approximate.
Details →Free admission at state sites (last weekend of September)
State archaeological sites and museums
Free entry at the Acropolis, Knossos, Mystras and other state sites. Expect queues; timed slots still apply at the Acropolis.
Ochi Day (28 October)
Nationwide
National holiday with school and military parades, the largest in Thessaloniki. Free admission at the Acropolis, Knossos, Mystras and other state sites; banks and public services close.
Details →67th Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Thessaloniki · Thessaloniki
Greece's leading film festival, with screenings across the city. Book hotels early for the opening weekend.
- Details →
Athens Marathon. The Authentic
Marathon → Panathenaic Stadium, Athens · Athens & the Riviera
The classic route from the town of Marathon to the Panathenaic Stadium. Expect road closures across central Athens on the day.
Polytechnic uprising commemoration (17 November)
Athens · Athens & the Riviera
Commemoration of the 1973 student uprising, with a march to the US embassy. Schools close; expect demonstrations and closures in central Athens.
Patras Carnival 2027
Patras
Greece's biggest carnival. The season is reported to run from 17 January, with the grand parade on Sunday 14 March 2027 — dates are approximate until the organisers confirm them.
Approximate dates — confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
- Details →
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
Thessaloniki · Thessaloniki
The spring documentary festival run by the Thessaloniki film festival organisation.
Clean Monday (start of Lent)
Nationwide
Public holiday: picnics, kite-flying and Lenten food — the Philopappos Hill in Athens fills with kites. Date calculated from Orthodox Easter 2027.
Independence Day (25 March)
Nationwide
National holiday with parades; the main military parade is in Athens. Archaeological sites may keep holiday hours — check the day.
Greek Orthodox Easter 2027
Nationwide
Good Friday 30 April, Easter Sunday 2 May, Easter Monday 3 May. Candlelit processions, the midnight Resurrection service and lamb on Sunday. Ferries and roads are busy; book early.
Dormition of the Virgin (15 August)
Nationwide
The peak of Greek domestic travel: ferries sell out and island rooms are at their dearest. Big pilgrimages and village festivals across the islands.
Armata festival, Spetses
Spetses · Spetses
Spetses' big festival, held in September. The exact dates are set locally each year and were not published when we checked — confirm before booking.
Approximate dates — confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
The shape of the Greek year
- Winter — Epiphany on 6 January with the blessing of the waters; carnival season builds towards Lent, biggest in Patras.
- Spring — Clean Monday and 25 March Independence Day parades; then Orthodox Easter, the most important week of the year (2 May in 2027). See holidays and Easter dates.
- Summer — the Athens Epidaurus Festival brings ancient drama to the theatre of Epidaurus (in 2026 it ran until 29 August); village festivals on the islands; 15 August, when ferries sell out.
- Autumn — Armata on Spetses in September, 28 October Ochi Day, then the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Athens Marathon in November.
Free admission at the Acropolis, Knossos, Mystras and other state sites on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September and 28 October.
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