I have written in the past about Greek country fairs and the importance they have for the cultural and social life of the villages. You can read my post about the fair of Lastros, the village I was living in till a couple of months ago, here.
But now I am living in a new village and I have for you the pictures of another fair!
Join me for a fiesta with an abundance of food and dance at Myrsini, a Greek village on the north-east side of Crete!
The small public square in front of the spring (we are so lucky to have a spring in the village) is the place that all the big events are taking place. All the work is done by volunteers, residents of the village and their offspring that are here for their vacations.
The preparations started days before the fair itself but most of the work had to be done the same day. Putting tables and chairs, setting up an outdoors kitchen and a bar and preparing food for 400 people is not a light task. Yet it all happened thanks to the good will and unselfishness of the volunteers!
Especially the food preparation and distribution was a remarkable collegial feat. Just consider that no one was professionally trained for this task and everything was homemade and prepared on the spot!
The sunset found the square transformed and ready to welcome the guests and not long after that, the guests arrived! The beautiful thing about this fairs is that you can see people from 5 to 105 years old and they all seem to find their place and enjoy themselves!
Fairs like that spin around three linchpins. The first one is always the community. Everybody is welcome and everybody is expected to participate. The second is the food! There is an old Greek saying that says "the unfed bear doesn't dance" which take us to the third linchpin which is, of course, the traditional dances.
If you are traveling in Greece or if you are planning to, keep your eyes open for a fair that will probably is taking place somewhere close! All the foreigners I have met so far loved the experience!
All the pictures and the words are mine.
Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.
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