Fiestas in Cyprus happen regularly and are very vibrant and full of colour whatever the time of year you attend one. These run throughout the year in the major cities as well as in the local towns where the community dress up and party.
New Years Day
Known as St Basil's Day in Cyprus, this is a day for optimism, when Cypriots hope for a fruitful forthcoming year. A special cake, Vasilopitta, is baked by each family and when it is cut, the person who finds a coin in his slice is promised luck for the year ahead.
Epiphany
Epiphany is a holiday when all Cypriots go to church to celebrate and pray for a prosperous year to come. Families gather and share a feast of mixed dishes, with Loukoumades the most popular sweet of the day. At this time of the year the citrus fruit is harvested and lorries loaded with oranges, tangerines, lemons and grapefruit make their way to the port.
Carnival
In preparation for Lent, Cypriots really let their hair down during the two weeks of carnival prior to the fast. Limassol is famous for its Carnival celebrations and processions, although all other towns and villages celebrate this too. Look out for seasonal specialities such as pastry bourekia filled with mint flavour cheese and ravioli. The last week of Carnival is Tyrini, simply translated as cheese week, and ends on Green Monday, which is the first day of Lent. All Cypriots pack a picnic on this day and head for the countryside, here they eat vegetables, olives, bread and salad and drink the local village wine.
Lent
This is taken seriously by many people on the island and no meat, fish or dairy products will be consumed during this period. However, pulses, vegetables and fruit are a definite favourite during this time. In the markets you can find stroutthoudia, a sort of weed that tastes delicious when lightly stir fried in oil and bound together with a little egg. Other popular dishes during Lent are, kolokopitta which are made from red pumpkin, raisins and cracked wheat and the old favourite with the locals, spanakopitta which is a combination of spinach and egg wrapped in filo pastry.
Easter
This is the major religious celebration of the year in Cyprus when all members of the family join in together to celebrate. Avgolemono soup, made from eggs and lemons in chicken stock is traditional Easter fare as are the flaounes or savoury Easter cakes which are baked in every household. These contain a special Easter cheese, eggs, spices and herbs all wrapped in a yeast pastry. The main meal for Easter is souvla when the fast is broken and chunks of mouth-watering meat are roasted on a spit in the spring sunshine.
Summer
Seed blossoms on the trees and industrious Cypriot housewives make orange blossom and rose water to cleanse their faces and to flavour the pastries as well as their fruit preserves known as glyko. Here you will find the festival of the fruit, here the locals will supply you with strawberries, cherries, apricots, plums, greengages, peaches, grapes, figs, apples, pears and an enormous variety of melons.
September
This month begins with a wine festival. For just over a week in the Municipal Park, local wine producers will offer you the chance to sample all the wines as well as demonstrations of wine presses, stills and traditional harvest dances.
Harvest Time
This is the busiest festival time for rural Cyprus. Almonds, carobs, table and wine grapes as well as olives need to be gathered, stored, packed and delivered. A must see is the village grape festival when palouzes are given out which is a blancmange of grape juice and a chewy sweet of almonds. This really time is the best time to let your hair down and party.
Christmas
In the past every family would slaughter a pig and the fresh meat would be salted, cured or smoked to last through the winter to cater for the Advent fast prior to Christmas. Nowadays, many families still make and smoke their own loukanika sausages for Christmas. A Cypriot Christmas cake is the basic British recipe which has been adapted to suit local supplies. However, traditional Christmas baking only really gets underway just a few days before the 25th when the fiestas and recipes really start to flow. This is a great time for all concerned and one of the favourites to cook is the melomakarona, which are spicy buns drenched in honey syrup.