The santorini festivals worth planning around are Holy Week and Easter, the village panigiria of July and August, the Assumption on 15 August, the Ifestia volcano festival in late summer, and the jazz week at Kamari in July. None of them are staged for visitors, all of them are free, and everybody is welcome.
Santorini festival tours
Santorini Tours is the best way to learn all about Santorini island and its culture!
In Santorini, as in many other Aegean islands, the religious feeling is intense – as evidenced by the dozens of churches and chapels that decorate the villages and the countryside. An additional reason specifically for the inhabitants of Santorini was the fact that they lived for centuries in the fear of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes and the only refuge for protection was Christ, the Virgin and the Saints.
Santorini festivals preparations
The feast is organized when a Saint is celebrated in the church and in the festive hall. In the past years it was an important event, since people did not have another chance to have fun, they enjoyed the celebration, they were gathered as friends and had a good time. That is why many festivals took place during the year.
The church is prepared one or two days before the feast of the saint. If it is parochial, the village’s women will undertake the preparation, while if they are private, the owners of the village.
After cleaning the church follows the emblem of the pictures of the flowers of the time, before the evening mass, and significant flag decoration, with large and small colorful flags.
In some villages, the road leading to the church is decorated with rosemary branches. When the church, which celebrates is public, money is collected from all the villagers for the expenses of the “festival”, while when it is private, the expenses are borne entirely by the owners.
Nowadays the feast is celebrated on the day of the feast of the saint after the holy mass. In the “fiesta”, which is next to the church, the preparation of the “fair” is made, which is what is offered to the pilgrims.
Men cook in classic cauldrons, beans, capers and serve them in the world. “Panigiris” includes other times cod, Santorini tomato bite, bread, cheese, tomatoes. Necessary is the wine that flows abundantly. During previous years, the instrumentalists went with violins, laughs, jabs and played, while many danced and sang. The feast continued throughout the night.
Santorini major festivals
- In the days of the great religious feasts such as Panagia Myrtidiotissa in Kamari, Panagia Placansi in Oia, the Cross in Perissa, on August 15 in various villages and the monastery of Prophet Elias, there are celebrations with food, music, plenty of wine, local dances.
- One of the biggest festivals on the island is celebrated on the 15th of August in Panagia Episkopi. On the eve begins the process of cooking beans and traditional fava in large cauldrons.
- The feast of St. Matron. Read more in Finikia.
- The Feast of the Savior in Pyrgos: According to the custom, the young people of the village on the eve of the Savior’s Day steal from the courtyards of the girls flower pots with basilicas and decorate with them the dome of the temple.
- The most important feast is that of the Assumption of the Virgin on August 15 in Kera. Feasts are also held on June 24, St. John’s in Manolas, on May 5th of Agia Irini in Riva, on May 21, the patron saint of Chora (Manola) of Agios Konstantinos, on July 20th, Prophet Elijah in Kera, on September 21, Virgin Mary of Giatrisa in the River, on the 21st of November, the Virgin of Ezodi, in Agrilia.
The festive pavilion is an area fully equipped with benches, tables, utensils, etc. In small churches where the festive houses are small, people sit on the patios of the courtyard. After the holy mass, the priest shares the bread and follows the walk around of the image of the saint. Then the feast begins. Book a tour in Santorini!
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Santorini Festivals: The Short Answer
The santorini festivals worth planning a trip around are Holy Week and Easter, the village panigiria across July and August, the Ifestia volcano festival in late summer, the Assumption on 15 August, and the jazz and film festivals at Kamari in July. Everything else on the calendar is a saint’s day in one village, which is exactly what you want to stumble into.
None of the santorini festivals are ticketed spectacles for visitors. A panigiri is the village eating outdoors after church, with wine from somebody’s barrel and a band that starts at eleven. You are welcome, you will be fed, and nobody will ask who you are.
The santorini festivals calendar runs on the Orthodox church, so most dates move with Easter or belong to a particular saint. The fixed ones are 15 August, 6 January and the two summer arts festivals.
Easter and Holy Week
The biggest week of the Greek year, and the best of all the santorini festivals if your dates are flexible. Orthodox Easter usually falls a week or more after the Western date, so check the year before booking.
Good Friday at Pyrgos. The whole village is lit with thousands of tin cans of burning oil along the walls and rooftops, and the Epitaphios is carried up through the lanes. It is the single most photographed evening of the island’s religious calendar and it is genuinely moving.
Holy Saturday. The Anastasi at midnight, in every village church, with fireworks, candles and the greeting Christos Anesti. Then magiritsa soup at one in the morning.
Easter Sunday, the loudest of the santorini festivals. Lamb on the spit from mid-morning, tables outside, and lunch that lasts until evening. Restaurants inland book out; caldera restaurants are half empty.
What it costs. Very little. This is the week the island belongs to its residents, and prices are still shoulder-season.
See Easter in Santorini for the full week.
Panigiria: The Village Feasts
These are the real santorini festivals, and there are dozens of them between May and September. Each village church has a saint, the saint has a day, and the day is marked with a service followed by food, wine and dancing in the square.
What happens. Vespers in the evening, then trestle tables, a whole animal cooked slowly, local wine by the jug, and a three-piece band playing until three in the morning.
The big ones. Agios Ioannis at Vothonas in late August, Profitis Ilias on 20 July at the monastery on the island’s highest point, Agios Georgios in Emporio, and the Panagia at Episkopi Gonias on 15 August.
What it costs. Usually nothing. Food and wine are provided by the village, and any collection plate is voluntary.
How to behave. Dress modestly for the church part, accept what is handed to you, and do not photograph the service itself.
How to find one. They are not advertised online. Ask your hotel, look for bunting and strings of lights over a village square, or ask us. Finding a panigiri is the one thing about santorini festivals that a local can do for you and a search engine cannot.
The Ifestia Festival
The one modern spectacle among the santorini festivals, and the only one built around the volcano itself. Of all the santorini festivals it is the one visitors are most likely to see by accident.
What it is. A re-enactment of the eruption, staged on Nea Kameni and lit with fireworks and red flares so the crater appears to erupt again across the water.
When. Usually late August or early September, and the date is confirmed only a few weeks ahead.
Where to watch it. From the caldera rim at Fira, Firostefani or Imerovigli, or from a boat in the bay, which is the better option by a distance.
What it costs. Nothing from land. A boat with a viewing position costs what an evening cruise costs.
Worth planning around? Of the santorini festivals it is the easiest to catch if you are here anyway. It is not a reason to move your dates by itself.
The Arts Festivals
Santorini Jazz Festival. The best known of the summer santorini festivals: mid-July, on the beach at Kamari, running most of a week with Greek and international acts. Deck chairs, a bar and the sea behind the stage.
Santorini Film Festival. Open-air screenings in the summer at Kamari and around the island, with a documentary and Mediterranean-cinema focus.
The open-air cinema at Kamari. Not a festival, but the same pleasure on any night from June to September: a film under the stars with a drink and a jasmine hedge.
Classical and choral evenings. Occasional concerts in the churches at Pyrgos and Megalochori through the summer, usually posted on a paper notice a week beforehand.
These are the santorini festivals with actual programmes and websites, which makes them the easy ones to plan around.
The Calendar, Month by Month
January. The santorini festivals year opens with Epiphany on the sixth, with the blessing of the waters and a cross thrown into the sea at Ammoudi and Athinios.
February or March. Apokries, the carnival weeks before Lent, then Clean Monday with kites, seafood and no meat.
March or April. Holy Week and Easter, the high point of the year.
May. The first panigiria and the first of the summer santorini festivals, and 21 May for Agios Konstantinos.
July. Profitis Ilias on the twentieth at the monastery, the jazz festival at Kamari, and the harvest starting in the vineyards.
August. The busiest month for santorini festivals: the Assumption on the fifteenth, Agios Ioannis at Vothonas at the end of the month, and Ifestia.
September. The last panigiria, the wine harvest finishing, and Ifestia if it slipped.
October to December. Quiet for santorini festivals, apart from 26 October for Agios Dimitrios and the Christmas services.
15 August: The Assumption
The single biggest date in the santorini festivals calendar after Easter, and the day the island is at its most Greek.
What happens. Morning liturgy in every church, families returning from Athens and abroad, a long lunch that runs into the evening, and a panigiri in several villages that night.
Where to be for the best of the santorini festivals that day. Episkopi Gonias, the Byzantine church at Mesa Gonia, has the most atmospheric service on the island. Emporio and Pyrgos both hold good feasts afterwards.
The practical warning. It is also the peak of the tourist year. Ferries and flights are full, hotels are at their most expensive, and everything needs booking months ahead.
If you want one date to see what santorini festivals actually mean to the people who live here, this is it.
The Wine Harvest
Not a festival with a date, but the season that shapes half the santorini festivals in the calendar.
When. The harvest runs alongside the summer santorini festivals, late July to early September, earlier than almost anywhere in Europe, because the island is hot and dry and the vines are ancient.
What to see. Grapes coming in at dawn, the presses running, and tanks fermenting behind the tasting rooms. Several wineries will show you the working side if you ask.
What to drink. Assyrtiko, Nykteri and Vinsanto, tasted in that order. See the wine tour and the wine museum.
The best hour. From four in the afternoon, on a terrace above the vineyards, with the harvest still coming in behind you.
How to Actually Attend One
Six practical notes, because santorini festivals are not organised for visitors and that is the point.
Ask locally. Hotel staff, taverna owners and drivers all know which of the santorini festivals is on this week. Nothing is listed online.
Go late. The church part is early evening; the food and music start at ten and run past two.
Dress for church. Covered shoulders and knees for the service, whatever you like afterwards.
Do not photograph the liturgy. Outside afterwards, nobody minds at all.
Take a driver. The wine is free and the roads are dark and narrow.
Eat what is offered. Refusing food at a panigiri is the only way to give offence.
Santorini Festivals: Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main santorini festivals? Holy Week and Easter, the summer panigiria, the Assumption on 15 August, the Ifestia volcano festival and the July jazz festival at Kamari.
When is Greek Easter? It moves each year and is usually one to five weeks after the Western date. Check before booking.
What is a panigiri? A village saint’s-day feast: a church service followed by free food, local wine and live music in the square until the early hours.
Do you have to pay? Almost never. Panigiria are hosted by the village, and any contribution is voluntary.
Can visitors join in? Yes. You will be handed a plate and a glass within minutes of arriving.
When is the Ifestia festival? Late August or early September, with the exact date confirmed a few weeks ahead.
What is the busiest festival date? 15 August, which is also the most expensive week of the year to travel in Greece.
Are there winter festivals? Epiphany on 6 January and the Christmas services, both quiet and local.
Where do I find dates? Ask on the island. The best of the santorini festivals are announced on a paper notice a week beforehand.
What should you not do? Photograph the service, arrive at nine expecting it to have started, or drive yourself home afterwards.
We Will Get You to the Right Village
We are a local operator running private tours and transfers in our own vehicles, we live in these villages, and the santorini festivals are our own calendar too. We know which panigiri is on this week, which church has the service worth attending, and where to park when the square is full.
Tell us your dates and we will tell you honestly what is on, take you there, and bring you back afterwards, which matters at a feast where the wine is poured by the jug.
Prices are per vehicle rather than per person, hotel pickup anywhere on the island is included, we guide in twelve languages, and an 80 EUR deposit confirms a date.
See the personalised tour, the food experience, or contact us.
Every Village and Site on the Island
Any of these can be built into a private day. Each has its own page with what to see and how long to allow.
Caldera villages: Fira · Firostefani · Imerovigli · Oia · Finikia · Baxedes
Inland villages: Pyrgos · Megalochori · Emporio · Mesaria · Karterados · Vothonas · Vourvoulos · Exo Gonia · Mesa Gonia · Pigadia
Beaches: Perissa · Perivolos · Kamari · Vlychada · Monolithos · Red Beach · White Beach · Agios Georgios · Agia Paraskevi
Sites and landmarks: Akrotiri · Ancient Thira · Akrotiri Lighthouse · Nea Kameni · Palia Kameni · Thirasia · Athinios Port
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