Venue
Corfu Old Town, Corfu 491 00, Greece
{{item.title}}
Easter in Corfu guide
Brass bands and falling jugs at Corfu Easter.
In short
Orthodox Easter follows the Julian calendar and moves each year, usually between early April and early May. Corfu's Holy Week brings brass bands behind Good Friday biers and clay jugs smashed from balconies on Holy Saturday morning. It suits travellers who want an Easter shaped by Venetian history; book well ahead.
Corfu keeps an Orthodox Easter unlike any other in Greece. Long Venetian rule left the island with brass bands playing funeral marches behind the Good Friday biers, a Catholic community marking the feast beside the Orthodox majority, and a Holy Saturday morning when clay jugs come crashing down from the balconies of the old town.
What makes it worth the journey is how public the whole week is. Almost nothing happens behind closed doors. Rehearsals, processions and the midnight Resurrection all play out in the lanes and squares of a town on the UNESCO list since 2007, and Corfiots of every age turn out for the grief of Friday and the noise of Saturday alike.
–/5
No reviews yet
Been to this event? Your review helps other travellers.
Key Facts & Stats:
Ends: Sunday, 2 May 2027
Where: Corfu, Greece
Venue: Spianada
Held: Every year
Type of event: Cultural Events, Religious Festivals
Currency: Euro (EUR, €)
Time zone: Eastern European Time, UTC+2 (UTC+3 in summer)
Language: Greek
Map
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Standing clear when the pots are thrown
The jugs are thrown from upper floors and they are full of water, so pick a spot well away from the building line and expect a splash. Shards skid a surprising distance across the paving. Keep children close, hold phones firmly, and wear closed shoes.
Arrive early. The best positions along the Spianada and the Liston fill long before the bells, and nobody gives ground until the bands have finished. Plenty of Corfiots pick up a fragment afterwards as a keepsake for luck, and visitors are welcome to do the same.
Behaviour in churches and during processions
Holy Week is a religious occasion first and a spectacle second. In church, cover shoulders and knees, speak quietly, and slip out during a pause. Never cut through a procession to reach the other side of the street; wait until the epitaphios and its band have gone by. Hats off and voices down as a bier passes.
Photographing the street processions is normal. Inside a church, switch off flash and shutter sound, and do not film worshippers at close range during a service.
Pacing yourself through the late-night services
Good Friday runs late, the Resurrection is at midnight on Saturday, and Saturday itself starts at dawn. Rest in the afternoon if you want to see both ends of the day. Bring a warm layer: spring nights by the sea turn cool once the sun has gone.
If you hold a candle at midnight, fit it with a paper or plastic guard and keep the flame clear of the hair and coat in front of you. The crowd on the square is tightly packed.
Easter Sunday belongs to families and the town is noticeably quieter. Book any restaurant lunch well in advance.
What happens on the day
- Lazarus Saturday, about 11:30
Lazarus carols
Choirs walk the historic centre singing and finish at San Giacomo, the former town hall.
- Palm Sunday, about 11:00
Saint Spyridon's procession
The saint's relic goes out on the longest of its processions, with all 17 of the island's philharmonic bands.
- Holy Thursday, evening
Band rehearsals
Crowds gather outside the three old philharmonic societies for the last run-through of the funeral marches.
- Good Friday, from midday
The epitaphios processions
Thirty-three biers leave their parishes through the afternoon and evening; after 22:00 the Metropolitan Cathedral's procession sets out with every band in town.
- Holy Saturday, 06:00 to 11:00
The earthquake, the relic and the pots
At 06:00 the pews are banged at Panagia ton Xenon; at 09:00 the relic and an epitaphios leave together; at 11:00 the bells ring and the botides are thrown from balconies.
- Holy Saturday, midnight
Resurrection
The Holy Light is met at Pentofanaro, and the crowd gathers on the Upper Spianada for midnight.
- Easter Tuesday, 18:00
The relic returns
Saint Spyridon's relic goes back into its casket.
How many days to spend and booking in the old town
Two days is the minimum. Make them Good Friday and Holy Saturday, when the island stages its best-known rituals. With five or six days the week builds properly around you, from the carols of Lazarus Saturday through the Palm Sunday procession and the quieter evenings of music in midweek. Stay on to Easter Tuesday evening and you see Saint Spyridon's relic go back into its casket.
Keep meal plans loose. Streets close as each procession passes, and a table booked for the wrong hour can strand you on the wrong side of a band. If Corfu is one stop on a longer route, our guide to travelling in Greece helps with the rest.
Venetian influence and Corfu's Holy Week traditions
Venice explains most of what sets this Easter apart. Under Venetian rule Catholics and Orthodox lived side by side and kept the feast together, and when the authorities stopped Orthodox processions on Good Friday, islanders moved the epitaphios to Holy Saturday morning. The Friday processions came back in time. The Saturday one never left. Even the botides, clay jugs filled with water and tied with red ribbon, probably began as a Venetian New Year habit of throwing out old crockery, borrowed by the Orthodox and shifted to spring.
Then there is the music. The philharmonic societies carry the week, and the three oldest, the Philharmonic Society of Corfu, the Mantzaros and the Kapodistrias, lead it. On Good Friday they play funeral marches such as Albinoni's Adagio and Chopin's Marche Funèbre behind the biers, 33 of them in all, one for each year of Christ's life. Once the jugs have fallen on Saturday the mood flips, and the bands launch into the march Grekoi.
Kitchens start early. From Holy Monday families bake fogatses, a sweet bread with liqueur and kumquat, and colombines, braided loaves with a red egg pressed into the dough. Sunday is lamb on the spit, at home with family.
Getting there
Flying in
Corfu airport is on the edge of Garitsa, about 2 km south of town, around 10 minutes by taxi, with buses into the centre. Aegean flies from Athens; many European routes are seasonal and only ramp up from April, so check your route is flying in Holy Week.
By ferry
From Igoumenitsa on the mainland, Kerkyra Lines and Kerkyra Seaways reach the port of Corfu Town in 70 to 90 minutes. Avoid the service to Lefkimmi, 43 km south of town.
In town
Walk. The old town's lanes are narrow and the processions close what roads there are. Leave any hire car at the hotel until Easter Monday.
Where to stay during the festival
Sleep in the old town if you possibly can. Kampiello in the old core, Spilia near the Metropolitan Cathedral and Garitsa along the bay to the south go first. A beach hotel at the resorts is a nuisance during the processions and the late Resurrection.
Reserve months ahead and book flights at the same time. Two nights, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, is the minimum.
Weather and what to pack
Easter falls in a mild, sometimes showery spring. Corfu Town averages a daytime high of about 19°C in April and 24°C in May, with lows of 10 to 13°C. April brings about 65 mm of rain over twelve wet days, May about 37 mm over eight (1955-2010 averages).
Late-night processions and the midnight Resurrection call for a warm layer.
Worth packing
- A warm layer for the midnight service
- A light rain jacket
- Comfortable shoes for standing through long processions
- A candle for the Resurrection, sold at churches if you forget
- Smart, modest clothes for church services
Car hire in Corfu
Airport transfer to Easter in Corfu
Met at arrivals and driven door to door to Spianada.
Restaurants and food in Greece
Places to eat in Greece before or after the celebrations.
Contribute:
Recently viewed events
Others of this kind you opened on this device, so you can get back to them quickly.
Travelers are asking
No questions yet about Easter in Corfu. Ask the community or our travel team, and the answer will show here once it is published.
Be the first to ask
Our team answers questions here
Explore Greece
Other festivals around the same time
Festivals held in the same weeks, if you want to plan more than one.
26
Apr, 2027
Apr, 2027
Party Events, National Day, Social Festivals
Amsterdam, Netherlands
30
Apr, 2027
Apr, 2027
Cultural Events, Folk Festival, Parade
Padstow, United Kingdom
1 photo
04
May, 2027
May, 2027
Cultural Events, Folk Festival, Community Events
Turkey
1 photo
Explore Greece
More events and festivals in Greece
Festivals and events across Greece, with dates, venues and ticket details where available.
05
Jan, 2027
Jan, 2027
Cultural Events, Religious Festivals
Piraeus, Greece
24
Mar, 2027
Mar, 2027
Religious Festivals, National Day, Parade
Athens, Greece
31
May, 2027
May, 2027
Live Events, Cultural Events, Arts Festivals
Athens, Greece
03
Nov, 2027
Nov, 2027
Arts Festivals, Film Festivals
Thessaloniki, Greece
Save time: create a trip and get offers from locals
Tell us where and when you want to go, and local travel experts send you offers for your trip.
1 Create a trip
2 Get offers from locals
3 Pick the one you like
Create a trip
Need help?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General
Yes. The village of Episkepsi holds its own carol singing on the evening of Lazarus Saturday, after the choirs have finished in town.
At 11:00, when the church bells ring for the First Resurrection. It is over in minutes, so be in position well before.
Breaking the botides is said to drive bad luck out of the house. Historians link the custom to Venetians smashing old crockery at New Year, a habit Orthodox islanders moved to Easter.
A barrel of water decorated with flowers. People toss coins into it while making a wish during Holy Week, and at the First Resurrection on Saturday someone jumps in to scoop out the money.
From Holy Wednesday the street lanterns, the Liston, the Palace and the cross on the Old Fortress are lit in purple. It is the town's visual cue that the most solemn part of the week has begun.
The two churches have shared the celebration in Corfu since Venetian times. On Holy Thursday the Catholic Cathedral holds its own ceremony, with the Archbishop washing the feet of 12 children.
Corfu's Easter sweet bread, of Venetian origin, flavoured with liqueur and the island's kumquat. Households bake it from Holy Monday, alongside colombines, braided loaves holding a red egg.
Yes. In recent years the Municipal Theatre has hosted a religious concert on Lazarus Saturday afternoon, and on Holy Tuesday choirs sing the Troparion of Kassiani while the Old Palace holds a night of music and poetry. Check the municipal programme for the current year.
Churches hold Resurrection liturgies and processions with icons, and in the afternoon the Vespers of Love at the Metropolitan Cathedral reads the Gospel in several languages.
Booking
Thirty-three, each with its own choir and band, and the number matches the years of Christ's life. The procession from the Metropolitan Cathedral is the last and largest of the night.
Timing & weather
On the evening of Holy Thursday, outside the three old philharmonic societies.
On Easter Tuesday evening. The ceremony is called the Mpasmatha of the Saint, and officials and the oldest bands attend.