Traditional events & Festivals | Traditional events & Festivals | About region | Drama Prefecture | Regions

Short films Festival: The Greek and International short film Festival that is organized every September in Drama Prefecture is one of the most famous festivals in Greece and attracts a lot of visitors from the whole country, since the audience has the chance to watch more than 200 short films.
www.dramafilmfestival.gr

Dramaica Youth Festival: This four-day festival is organized in the region of Agia Varvara and includes music and cultural events.
https://el-gr.facebook.com/DramaicaYouthFestival
On 7 January in some small villages a strange custom is revived. Village people dress up with big bells and wander from house to house, while a group with traditional clothes follows them. When the sun comes down everybody is gathered in the village square, where a big party takes place. On 8 January there is a representation of a traditional wedding, where village men wander from house to house dressed up like bears.
In Kalabaki and Mavrolefki people revive the custom of “Kalogeros” (monk). A local dresses up like a monk with rags and wanders from house to house, while he’s being followed by others too. The women of the village throw seeds at him as a sign of their rich farming. Then there is a representation of the seeding, the figurative death and resurrection of the monk, while people dance on the seeded ground.

“Anastenaria”: In Mavrolefki on 21 May a special custom takes place, “Anastenaria”. People dance for a long time in an ecstatic way with the music from lyres and tabors. They also sacrifice an animal and walk on burning coals, something that is repeated on 23 May.