The sudden wave of bad weather did not dampen the spirits of the carnival goers throughout Greece, as the festivities and celebrations of the Greek version of Halloween’ called ‘Apokries’ continued unabated.
Apokries is actually rooted in ancient Dionysian practices amalgamated with the marking of the start of Lent in the Greek orthodox Christian Church.
Leading the parade in Patras, where the largest celebrations in the country take place, the carnival queen was surrounded by thousands of masqueraded people dancing and singing along to the blasting tunes. 145 carnival crews paraded through the streets of the largest Greek city in the Peloponnese.
Main parade in Patras
Over 30,000 carnival revelers ignored the continuous rain and joined the main parade on Sunday which closed this year’s Patras Carnival. The big parade started at 14.00 and concluded shortly before 19.00 and follows yesterday’s smaller night parade of revelers who danced and sung in the streets.
King Carnival, traditionally a grand, spectacular and satiric figure which opens the parade, was wearing a top hat, smoking a cigar and holding Greece’s three bailout deals in his two hands.
Numerous floats followed behind with themes inspired among others by the ongoing economic crisis, such as the “Political cohabitation agreement” float, which consists of two figures representing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem sitting relaxed on a couch.
The Carnival climaxed with the traditional burning of King Carnival at the old port, which was accompanied by a fireworks display. Celebrations will continue with a two-hour concert by the band Passepartout and four-member Greek band Alcatrash.
In the northern city of Xanthi party goers also braved the rain and low temperatures and showed up with their umbrellas and raincoats to take part in the parade and the festivities.
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