Many of the big Greek popular festivals have a religious basis, so they're observed in accordance with the Orthodox calendar. Give or take a few saints, this is similar to the regular Catholic liturgical year, except for Easter, which can fall as many as five (but usually one or two) weeks to either side of the Western festival - in 2001 the two coincided (a very rare event). Other festivals are cultural in nature, with the highlight for most people being to catch a performance of Classical drama in one of the country's ancient theatres. There's also a full programme of cinema and modern theatre, at its best in Athens, but with something on offer in even the smallest town at some point during the year

Easter
Easter is by far the most important festival of the Greek year - infinitely more so than Christmas - and taken much more seriously than it is anywhere in western Europe, aside from Spain. From Wednesday of Holy Week until the following Monday, the...

The festival calendar
Most of the other Greek festivals are celebrations of one or other of a multitude of saints ; the most important are detailed below. A village or church bearing the saint's name is a fair guarantee of some sort of observance - sometimes right...

Cultural festivals
As well as religious festivals, Greece has a full range of cultural festivals - highlights of which include Classical drama in ancient theatres at Athens, Epidaurus, Dodona and Dion. A leaflet entitled Greek Festivals , available...

Cinema and theatre
Greek cinemas show a large number of American and British movies, always in the original soundtrack with Greek subtitles, though fly-posters tend to be Greek-only. Indoor screenings are highly affordable, currently ?5-7 depending...