Festivals in CreteDietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0

Festivals 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 agenda
See on map
Chania 30 Rethymno 12 Heraklion 22 Lasithi 5

29 places

Bars & pubs× Chania× Clear all

Many bars and clubs in the resorts open only in summer (about May to October), and some city bars close for a while in winter. Always check the opening hours before you go.

Bars & pubs · Chania

Bras de Freres

  • Epimenidou 2, Chania
  • Opening times change with the season. Check the opening hours before you go.
Map

Bars & pubs · Chania

XS Club

  • Sourmeli 16, Chania
  • Opening times change with the season. Check the opening hours before you go.
Map

Bars & pubs · Chania

Vazaki Reloaded

  • Mousouron 25 (2nd floor), Chania
  • Opening times change with the season. Check the opening hours before you go.
Map

Bars & pubs · Chania

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

  • Gavaladon 41, Chania
  • Opening times change with the season. Check the opening hours before you go.
Map

Bars & pubs · Chania

REC Chania

  • Stratigou Tzanakaki 19, Chania
  • Opening times change with the season. Check the opening hours before you go.
Map

Bars & pubs · Chania

The Monastery of Karolos

  • Chatzimichali Ntaliani 22, Chania
  • Opening times change with the season. Check the opening hours before you go.
Map

Bars & pubs · Chania

Da Vinci Bar Club

  • Potie 41, Chania
  • Opening times change with the season. Check the opening hours before you go.
Map

Bars & pubs · Chania

Barraki

  • Drakontopoulou 3, Chania
  • Opening times change with the season. Check the opening hours before you go.
Map

Bars & pubs · Chania

Karamela All Day Bar

  • Akti Kountourioti 47, Chania
  • Opening times change with the season. Check the opening hours before you go.
Map

Good 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.