Local Εvents

At the traditional celebration of the New Year's Eve in Emporio, the Local Community of the municipality of Eordea honors the traditional custom of "Kokones and Gegides". This is a custom of disguised young people of the village who, on New Year's Eve, return to all the houses of Emporio, singing the carols with the accompaniment of bagpipe, ending at midnight in the village square for a big feast.

Epiphany (also Theophany or Three Kings' Day) is magnificently celebrated at the river. All the inhabitants after the worship take their place on the banks of the river (near the church) to watch the water sanctification. Many young people fall into the frozen waters of Tsiroga and try to find the Cross that the priest throws in the water from very high. It is a great honor and blessing for the one who catches the Cross.

In the evening of Carnival (a feast like Halloween), at every neighborhood of the village, fires are burned with kethara (cedar). From the night before, every neighborhood is overnight keeping the kethara dancing and singing, drinking and eating. The crowd participates dancing around the fire, singing the traditional hilarious carnival songs.

On St. Constantine's Day on May 21st, a great dance is set up very close to the chapel of Agios Konstantinos at the top of the hill, after the worship, where homemade suits and candies are given to believers. 

Every summer in the first half of June, a dance with traditional music is organized in the central square of the village. In fact, visitors share cherries from local produce.

It is organized successfully every summer by the Cultural Association of Εmporio, in the first half of July, with the participation of traditional bands from all over Greece.

This Festival is an annual meeting of famous musicians of the Greek scene. They come from various places around Greece and specially form Athens and Thessaloniki. It is usually a three-day festival that takes place in the forest of Emporio (Kastanodassos), in a breath-taking site. If you want to experience Greek music scene, then this festival is a must.

The place where these local events take place is Kastanodassos. They usually take place in early or mid-August and last for a week. There are evenings of traditional music, with theater, jazz music, rock, and many other kinds of music.

August 15th is the largest religious festival in whole Greece, on the occasion of the Dormition of Virgin Mary. Almost all villages have a chapel dedicated to Virgin Mary and organize “panigiria” (as locals say) that day. At Emporio, in the courtyard of the church, there are given sweets to the believers, while the feast is often transferred to the square of the village till late at night.

On November 10th, the Cultural Association of Emporio organizes a concert of Byzantine music with the participation of the most famous Byzantine choirs in Greece, creating that day an imposing atmosphere that goes around the village.

Saint Minas (Agios Minas in Greek) is the patron saint of Emporio and at his feast-day, on 11 November, the village organizes a big feast after the worship, where a crowd of people from nearby villages and foreign places comes in his honour.

Plenty of chestnuts, desserts, sweets and dance await you if you come to the "chestnut celebration" organized every October by the Cultural Association of Women of Emporio "Saint Minas" and the Volunteer Youth Group with the support of the local Municipality of Eordea. The aim of this feast is to display the product of the local chestnut and to promote it all over Greece, but also abroad. The event takes place in the central square of Emporio and evolves into a big folk festival with dance and songs of local tradition, while there are served generous dishes for visitors.