The first day of Lent is a public holiday: families head for open ground and beaches with kites and a meatless feast, and the town goes quiet. Next: Monday 15 March 2027, 11:00.
When: Clean Monday, 48 days before Orthodox Easter. Where: Open ground all over the island: hills, beaches and village squares.
Kites, lagana bread, seafood and halva, out of doors.
Kathara Deftera, Clean Monday, opens the forty days of Lent, and Greeks spend it outdoors, the Koulouma: friends and families fly kites and share a fasting meal without meat or dairy, with seafood, fish-roe salad, olives, halva and lagana, the flat sesame bread baked for the day. On Corfu some villages hold afternoon gatherings with music; in 2026 North Corfu's were at Avliotes and Peroulades from 15:00.
Any open, breezy ground, away from wires and roads.
There is no single place: hillsides, meadows and wide beaches all fill with kites, and many Corfiots drive out to the villages. Keep kite lines well clear of power lines and roads.
From late morning, for lunch outdoors.
The day has no programme in town; the picnics run from late morning through lunch, and the village gatherings are in the afternoon. Buy kites and lagana on the days before, or early that morning.
A public holiday: banks and public services close.
The carnival ends the evening before with the burning of Sior Karnavalos. Late February and March can be cold or wet, so a sheltered spot or a taverna table makes a sensible plan B.
Checked on 14 November 2026.