Festival of Panagia Odegetria, Pelekas

"At the remote village church of Panagia Lagouvardas in Markopoulo on Kefalonia, harmless small snakes bearing a natural cross-shaped marking on their heads appear each year around the icon of the Virgin in a phenomenon revered by the village since the 16th century, drawing pilgrims for the entire period up to Dekapentavgoustos."

Panigiri Παναγίας Φιδούσας, Markopoulo

"Each mid-August, small cross-marked snakes appear inside the church of Panagia Fidousa and are reverently handled by pilgrims as a sign of blessing, making Markopoulo's Dormition feast the most extraordinary folk-religious event in the Ionian Islands."

Panigiri Panagia Fidoussa (Snake Festival)

"The mountain village of Spartilas on Corfu holds one of the island's most beloved two-day Dekapentavgoustos panigiria, filling its hillside square with the Feakes Orchestra, Corfiot dances, and the unique blend of Venetian-influenced island music that sets Corfiot celebrations apart from the rest of Greece."

Panigiri Κοιμήσεως Θεοτόκου, Spartilas

"A major pilgrimage panigiri at the 17th-century Faneromeni Monastery above Lefkada town, drawing pilgrims from across the island and featuring a sprawling market, food stalls, and religious ceremony on the Dormition of the Virgin."

Panigyri Faneromenis Leykadas (Πανηγύρι Φανερωμένης Λευκάδας)

"Each year on the Dormition of the Virgin, small harmless snakes appear inside the church of Markopoulo village and are venerated by the faithful as a miraculous blessing, drawing visitors from across Kefalonia to this extraordinary and ancient folk custom."

Panigyri Markopoulou (Festival ton Fidion) (Πανηγύρι Μαρκοπούλου (Φεστιβάλ των Φιδιών))

"In the cliff-top village of Peroulades, the Assumption Day panigiri is held in the courtyard of the Lady of the Angels church with live music, dancing, and communal tables at the northernmost tip of Corfu."

Panigiri Koimiseos Theotokou, Peroulades

"Astypalaia's three-day Dekapentavgoustos celebration is centred on the Monastery of Portaitissa, which crowns the medieval Chora above the Aegean, with processions, traditional island music, and the communal feast of stuffed lamb known as labrino unique to this butterfly-shaped island."

Panigiri Παναγίας Ποιτιτίσσας, Chora

"In the remote Sfakia hamlet of Kalikratis, the cultural club cooks and distributes traditional Cretan food at morning congregation on the Dormition, followed by an all-night Cretan feast in a rarely visited corner of the White Mountains."

Panigyri Koimisis Theotokou - Kalikratis (Πανηγύρι Κοίμησης Θεοτόκου - Καλικράτης)

"At the abandoned-and-partly-revived Sfakian village of Asfendos, the Dormition feast draws returnees and visitors for free boiled meat, rice pilaf, and an open-air Cretan glendi in an eerily beautiful mountain bowl."

Panigyri Koimisis Theotokou - Asfentos (Πανηγύρι Κοίμησης Θεοτόκου - Ασφέντος)

"In the heart of one of Crete's great wine villages, Ano Archanes celebrates Panagia Faneromeni with Byzantine vespers on the eve and a lyra-and-laouto glendi the following night in its iconic vine-shaded square."

Panigyri Panagias Faneromenis - Ano Archanes (Πανηγύρι Παναγίας Φανερωμένης - Άνω Αρχάνες)

"At the Church of Gonia in Kolymbari, the Dormition eve brings a procession of the Virgin's icon through the village with military honours, followed by all-night vigil and a traditional Cretan glendi, one of the most ceremonially complete panigiria on the Chania coast."

Panigyri Koimisis Theotokou - Kolymvari (Πανηγύρι Κοίμησης Θεοτόκου - Κολυμβάρι)

"A remote Mani village panigiri for the Dormition of the Virgin, celebrated with an evening procession of the icon followed by all-night music and dancing in the stone-paved square of one of the Mani Peninsula's most traditional inland communities."

Panigiri Koimisis Theotokou