Rethymno Carnival
Crete's biggest carnival: weeks of themed parties, a treasure hunt and a huge parade through the town.
Add to calendarFestivals in Crete
Food and harvest festivals, culture and music festivals, and carnival.
Festivals through the year
Every season has its festivals. Villages celebrate their own product with a day of food, music and dancing, towns put on summer festivals with theatre and concerts in fortresses and open-air venues, and before Lent the island dresses up for carnival.
Food and harvest festivals
From cherries in early summer to chestnuts in autumn, many villages have a festival for what grows there: olive oil, cheese, figs, grapes, sardines and more. They are local and friendly, with tasting, cooking, live music and dancing, and they are a great way to see village life.
Culture, music and carnival
In summer, towns organise festivals with theatre, concerts and exhibitions, often in old fortresses and open-air theatres. In the weeks before Lent, carnival brings costumes, parades and street parties; Rethymno has the biggest carnival on the island.
Must do's
28 Feb (Usual dates, check locally) Rethymno Carnival
Crete's biggest carnival: weeks of themed parties, a treasure hunt and a huge parade through the town.
31 Oct (Usual dates, check locally) Chestnut Festival
Roasted and boiled chestnuts, honey, pork and new wine in the chestnut villages of western Crete.
1 Aug (Usual dates, check locally) Kornaria Festival
Theatre, concerts and exhibitions in the Venetian fortress of Sitia.
20 Jun (Usual dates, check locally) Cherry Festival
A village celebration of the cherry harvest with sweets, raki and Cretan dancing.
4 Sep (Usual dates, check locally) Sardine Festival
Free grilled sardines, local wine and dancing by the sea.
16 Aug (Usual dates, check locally) Sultanina (Raisin) Festival
Piskokefalo celebrates the grape harvest with sweet wines and raisins.
Guide Cretan food: what to eat
Dakos, kalitsounia, staka, snails, gamopilafo and the dishes you have to try, region by region.
Guide Cretan wine
Native grapes, wine regions and how to visit wineries.
Coming up
See the full agendaFood & harvest festivalCulture & arts festivalMusic festivalCarnival
February 2027
June 2027
Cherry Festival
A village celebration of the cherry harvest with sweets, raki and Cretan dancing.
Add to calendarMatala Beach Festival
Three days of free music in the old hippie village, on the beach and around the square.
Add to calendarWine festival of Dafnes
About ten nights of local wine, food and music in the heart of Heraklion's wine country.
Add to calendarJuly 2027
Cretan Diet Festival
A week of tastings, cooking demonstrations, local producers and folk music in Rethymno.
Add to calendarHeraklion Summer Arts Festival
All summer long: concerts, theatre and dance at open-air stages around the city walls.
Add to calendarKyrvia Festival, Ierapetra
Ierapetra's summer festival: concerts, theatre and shadow puppets, most of them free.
Add to calendarRenaissance Festival, Rethymno
A summer of theatre, music and dance inspired by the Venetian era, mostly inside the Fortezza.
Add to calendarLabyrinth Music Festival, Houdetsi
Three nights of modal music from Crete to Persia in a village garden south of Heraklion.
Add to calendarYakinthia festival, Anogia
Three summer evenings of music, poetry and exhibitions high on the slopes of Psiloritis.
Add to calendarChania Rock Festival
Two nights of metal and rock on a Venetian bastion beside the old harbour.
Add to calendarAugust 2027
Kornaria Festival
Theatre, concerts and exhibitions in the Venetian fortress of Sitia.
Add to calendarMyzithropita Festival, Kritsa
Kritsa bakes its sweet cheese pies for a summer night of music in the schoolyard.
Add to calendarOlive Oil Festival
Producers from the Sitia area present their olive oil with tastings, food and music.
Add to calendarShepherd and Cheese Festival, Zoniana
The shepherd village next to Anogia shows how cheese is made and shares it with everyone.
Add to calendarWine Festival of Vouves
Two nights of local wine and lyra music in the village of the ancient olive tree.
Add to calendarKreatotourta festival, Meskla
On the eve of the Dormition, Meskla bakes its meat and cheese pie and serves it with music.
Add to calendarGraviera Festival
Anopoli in Sfakia celebrates its graviera cheese with honey, lamb and music.
Add to calendarSultanina (Raisin) Festival
Piskokefalo celebrates the grape harvest with sweet wines and raisins.
Add to calendarKakavia (Fish Soup) Festival
Open-air cauldrons of fishermen's soup cooked by the sea for everyone.
Sitia harbour · Treis Ekklisies
Add to calendarSfakian Pie Festival, Chora Sfakion
Free sfakiani pites with honey, raki and dancing on the harbour of Chora Sfakion.
Add to calendarPotato Festival, Tzermiado
The Lasithi plateau's biggest event: three days of potatoes, music and dancing.
Add to calendarSeptember 2027
Eternal Sun festival, Sougia
An open-air electronic music festival in the remote beach village of Sougia.
Add to calendarOctober 2027
Chestnut Festival
Roasted and boiled chestnuts, honey, pork and new wine in the chestnut villages of western Crete.
Add to calendarGood to know
- Programmes are published only a few weeks before; check the municipality or the organiser.
- Village festivals are busy after dark; parking can be far from the square.
- Bring cash for the stalls and the tables.