As «Friends of Ikaria» aims at making the very special character of the island more widely known, organising an « Ikarian Panigyri » in Brussels is THE most important part of our activities. As many of you may know, the ‘panigyria’ in Greece are popular festivals with music, dance and traditional cooking. This also goes for Ikaria. The island has a strong tradition in the panigyria.

Originally panigiria are feasts/festivals that take place in a village on the nameday of its patron Saint or the day before it. In addition to that «panigyria» were/are also organised to collect money to finance various local activities, may it be the maintenance of a building owned by the local community, or to support people in financial needs.

There’s always a mass in the church dedicated to the Saint and when it’s finished people gather to celebrate with a lot of eating, drinking and dancing. Live traditional music is played by local musicians and people are dancing the traditional dances till night turns into day again. On Ikaria the panigyria are integral part of the Ikarian way of life, serving as a meeting point for people who live in different areas of the island.

“The income of the panigyri is dedicated to projects on Ikaria.”

Being at a panigyri in Ikaria makes you think of the ‘Dionysian Mysteries’, where everybody was drinking wine and while dancing to drums they were escaping from their socialised personality and ego, going into a sort of trance: liberated from social constraints and inhibitions, abandoning themselves. Something you can feel while you are in a panigiri on Ikaria is that all the people are equal and there’s a unity created between them while they dance together, following the same steps while holding hands.

On this background we bring the «panigyri» as a festive social event to Brussels and teach our guests how to dance Ikariotiko, one of the most characteristic dances of all Greece. But even if you don’t know the exact steps of the dance, everybody is welcome to join the dancing cycle.

In this context, organising an « Ikarian Panigyri » in Brussels has two main meanings for our association :

• To bring the vivid Ikarian tradition of music and dances to Brussels and to share with this international community the notion of a simple way of living, the spirit of cooperation and a vibrant community life.
• To continue the tradition, that the income of the panigyri is dedicated to projects on Ikaria.

In doing so, we hope that we are good ambassadors for the island we love and we do care for.