Every country has important holidays which are celebrated nationwide, let’s learn about the famous Greek holidays and how they are celebrated. Three of the biggest holidays celebrated in Greece are Easter, Independence Day, and the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary on August 15.
1. Greek Easter
Easter is the most important religious holiday in Greece, and the celebrations stretch across the whole of Holy Week and the Easter weekend. On Holy Thursday kitchens are blazing: eggs are dyed red and the sweet Easter bread, tsoureki, is baked for the weekend. All weekend there are different egg cracking, eating, and drinking activities to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Greek Orthodox Easter is calculated using the Julian calendar, so it falls either on the same day as Western Easter or one, four, or five weeks later.
2. Independence Day: Famous Greek Holidays
Another big holiday in Greece is their independence day. It is not commonly known as independence day, but it is referred to as the celebration of the Greek Revolution of 1821. This day is celebrated each year on March 25th. In 2021 Greece marked the 200th anniversary of the start of the revolution. Throughout the streets of Greece and Cyprus parades are held to celebrate, and schools often are a huge part of the celebration. The school kids dress in traditional Greek clothes and march while holding Greek flags. There is also an armed forces parade held in Athens. March 25th is a very important day in Greece and is definitely something to experience!
3. Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary
Greece is a very religious country and they adore celebrating the saints. As one of the famous Greek Holidays, this is a very important day to the Orthodox Christians is August 15th, the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. This day commemorates the “falling asleep” (death) of the Virgin Mary and her being taken up into heaven, and it is a public holiday. After church services, villages all over Greece hold a panigyri, a festival with food, music, and dancing, and many families travel back to their ancestral villages to celebrate together. Even if you are not religious this day is very important to many Greeks and would be a very interesting day to experience.
Even if you are not Greek watching how they celebrate these holidays is a very cool experience! Watching people celebrate different historical events and how much passion they have for these is something that you need to experience!
How does Juniper Tours plan a trip around a Greek holiday?
Juniper Tours is a luxury travel agency based in Middleton, Massachusetts, that plans private, custom trips to Greece. Our Greece specialists build each itinerary around your dates — whether that means Easter, Independence Day on 25 March or the 15 August feast — with hand-selected hotels, private guides and transfers arranged before you travel. Most custom Greece trips run 10–14 days and about $5,000–$15,000+ per person. Explore our Greece tours or book a free consultation.
