Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-03-02

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Patra carnival festivities wrapping up on Sunday with midday parade

[01] Patra carnival festivities wrapping up on Sunday with midday parade

Both parades include floats including satirical themes and artistic creations, all prepared throughout the year by the port city of Patra, which has traditionally held the largest carnival celebrations in Greece for years. As always, the parade is led by the king of the carnival; he is followed by the queen of the carnival and her retinue of snowmen.

Other floats carry whimsical names, such as "Only magic can save us," "Help, they're robbing us," and more conventional names such as "European South" and, for a younger audience, "The pirate's ship," "The castle", "The train" and "The gladiator".

The floats are followed by the 30,000 carnival volunteers marching along and dressed in various costumes, and serving as "Treasure Islanders".

The traditional close of the parade included the "chocolate war" floats, with the dessert tossed to the public.

The main day of the carnival wrapped up at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night, with the burning of the king of the carnival effigy at the Agios Nikolaos port, where dance and theatre performances were held before a fireworks show display signalled the end of the day's events.

Local business owners are hoping the annual event will help the economy, while police is increasing patrols as visitors have been flooding the city since Friday night.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article