Let the Carnival Begin! Patra Invites All to the Revelry

The northern Peloponnese port town of Patra has officially launched Carnival 2017 and is ready to welcome visitors to the merrymaking through to February 26.

This year’s opening ceremony which took place last week offered a taste of the festivities to come with organizers planning to revive the carnival atmosphere from 1900 through today, highlighting original features that made the Patra festival the largest in Greece.

One of the main tourist attractions, the Patra carnival invites visitors to partake in the masquerade fun with revelry in the city streets, parties, treasure hunts, night parades, the central parade on Sunday, February 26, the historic ‘Bourboulia’ ball with participants remaining anonymous wearing masks, and the flaring of King Carnival on the last day at Agios Nikoloas pier marking the beginning of Lent.

A highlight this year is the ”Carnival for the Little Ones” to run at the newly set up Carnival Town playground at Metamorfosi Sotiros Square aimed specifically at youngsters with a wide variety of events and happenings including workshops, interactive mask-making and face-painting sessions,  clown shows, Batman and Elsa (Frozen) appearances’, song and dance and plenty of play.