Easter: People of Kalymnos celebrate Easter with special customs that have remained unchanged over time. The most attended spectacular is the “war” between the two island parishes. People of one parish are gathered on the mountain of Agios Savvas and of the other parish on the mountain of Anastasi. They are well prepared for this battle and in the afternoon of the Easter Sunday the battle begins and lasts for quite some time, but the real show goes on at night, where the spectacular fireworks light the sky offering a great view to locals and visitors. Other traditions are the procession of the epitaph and the traditional pastry “lazarakia”. Another traditional dish of Kalymnos is “Mouri”, which is stuffed lamb that is cooked in a special casserole in the traditional oven that is airtight closed. This dish is being cooked from the afternoon of the Holy Saturday until Sunday morning. Finally, in Pothia on Easter Day people make a representation of the traditional sponge fishing customs.

Traditional Feasts: Except from Easter a lot of feasts take place on the island, such as of St. Savas on the 5^th of December, of St. Panteleimonas on the 26^th and the 27^th of July in Panormos, while many of them take place on the 15^th of August, day of the celebration of Panagia (Virgin Mary). In many traditional feasts men dance the “mechanic” dance, a traditional dance of the island. This dance is of great importance, since it is a representation of the tragedy that sponge fishers of Kalymnos have lived, since a lot of them have died after the invention of the diving suit.