At 11:00 on Holy Saturday, as the bells ring for the first Resurrection, Corfiots hurl clay pots full of water from the old town's balconies. Next: Saturday 1 May 2027, 11:00.
When: Holy Saturday, the day before Orthodox Easter. Where: Old town, around the Liston and the Spianada.
A minute of crashing pottery, then the bands strike up.
The botides are clay jugs with a narrow neck and two handles, often tied with red ribbon, and the balconies are hung with red cloth. At the first Resurrection, the morning service of Holy Saturday, the Metropolitan chants «Arise, O God» and the churches' bells ring: at that moment the pots go over the railings and burst on the paving below, to the boom of the Old Fortress's cannon. The custom dates from the Venetian years; one account ties it to the Venetians throwing out old things at New Year, another to the earthquake of the Resurrection. As soon as it is over, the philharmonic bands march back through the streets playing festive music.
In the open, never right under a balcony.
The crowd gathers on the Spianada, along the Liston and in the old town's main streets, looking up at the decorated balconies. Keep a few metres clear of the façades: the jugs are heavy, and shards and water fly.
By 10:00 for a place with a view.
The pots fall at about 11:00 and it is over in minutes. The old town is already full from Saint Spyridon's procession at 09:00, the morning's other great event, so coming early serves both. Cars are kept out of the centre; the municipality publishes its Easter parking areas on the edge of town.
Loud, wet and crowded, and over in minutes.
The crash is very loud, bang after bang from every side: if you or a child mind noise, stand further back. People pick up a shard to take home for luck; mind your feet on the broken pottery and the wet paving afterwards. In the Pinia quarter the mastela is played at the same time: a barrel of water in the street, coins thrown in for wishes, and someone jumping in after them.
Checked on 14 November 2026.