Karpathos is the ideal destination for mid-summer, when many people visit the island without being crowded, since Karpathos is not a popular holiday destination and is more interested in quality tourism. Even on the 15^th of August, Karpathos maintains its friendly aspect with several alternative options. During your stay, you should definitely attend some of the festivals, where several costums of the island are revived.

28/08 Agios Ioannis-Lakki, Olympos (Vroukountas): The monastery of Agios Giannis is located in a cave at Vroukountas Cape, where a grand two days' festival takes place in its honor. The locals depart from Avlona on foot or from Diafani by boat on the festival's eve. After arriving at the monastery, the locals make all the necessary preparations and the great feast begins, where the locals dance till the morning. After sunrise, the locals sleep on bed-clothes in the open-air space outside the cave. Then, they attend the ecclesiastical mass and keep reveling till evening.
Moreover, other great festivals take place on the 15^th, 23^rd and 28^th of August.
There take place also celebrations of:
25/03 Evaggelismou (Annunciation) in Pigadia
23/04 Agios Georgios, Lefkos
17/07 Agia Marina, Menetes
27/07 Agios Panteleimonas, Saria
27/07 Agios Panteleimonas, Aperi
06/08 Christ, in Othos
06/08 Christ, Aperi
15/08 Panagia on Menetes Pyles, Aperi Olympus
22/08 Kyra Panagia, Aperi
23/08 Panagia Mertonitissa, Aperi
28/08 Agios Ioannis - Lakki, Olympus (Vroukounta)
29/08 Agios Ioannis Aperi
07/09 Larniotisa in Wells
08/09 Panagia Vrysianni in Messochori
08/09 Panagia tis Plagias (slope) in Volada
08/09 Lady Mesochoritissa in Messochori
14/09 Ipsosis Timiou Stavrou (Exaltation of the Holy Cross) at Pyles
17/09 Agia Sofia in Arkassa

Easter: Although the Easter of Karpathos is not as famous as of other islands in Greece, it is a unique religious experience. Like all the festivals and the events experienced by locals with passion, during Easter, the Karpathians and especially the Karpathian women identify themselves with the sad fact of the death of Christ and with the joy of his resurrection and experience the great feast of Christianity emotionally, creating a ceremonial atmosphere that is hard to find in Greece nowadays. In Olympos, women adorn the Epitaph and place in it the photographs of the people, who died that year. Then, when the Epitaph is inside the church, they let their hair down and lament creating an idiomorphic ritual. On Easter the whole island celebrates accompanied by the rhythm of gaida, lyre and lute, while, on Easter Monday, women make cakes and go to the graveyard to adorn the graves and dedicated them to the dead.

Wine Festival: The Wine Festival takes place annually in Volada and Othos, where crowds of people gather to taste the wine of local winemakers for free, while the sound of the Karpathian lyre pervades in the atmosphere.
The Carnival: On Ash Monday the feast begins early in the morning in Othos with food and music. The masqueraded participants go to the Provincial Offices, where the custom of the Immoral Acts Court takes place. All the men that are dressed like women accuse the rest for several incidents and perform dirty persiflage, while "tzafiedes" (the policemen) arrest them and take them to court. In the end, no one is acquitted of the charges and everyone is sentenced to pay a fine, which they actually pay!

The Karpathian Wedding: If you find yourself in Karpathos during summer, you will definitely "encounter" a wedding, which you must attend if you want to experience the island's tradition and admire an authentic, folk as well as magnificent feast. On the wedding's day, the locals, friends and family "crow the bride" to take her from her parents and escort her to the church singing mantinades (rhymed songs) and playing musical instruments. After the wedding, a grand feast takes place, where even women can sing! The songs and mantinades sang at the beginning refer to the relations of the bride with her parents and contain wishes for her new life, and as a result the bride is moved. Then, during the "gilding" of the bride, the guests infest the bride's sakofoustano (traditional wedding dress) with money or gold. The feast requires the guests' inexhaustible strength, since it lasts two whole days with food and drinks as well as plenty of dancing and singing. Those who feel tired, rest only for a few hours and, then, they return to continue disporting until the next evening!