Venue
Thessaloniki, Greece
Ochi Day guide
Greece remembers its refusal of 1940.
In short
Ochi Day falls every year on 28 October, marking Greece's rejection of an Italian demand in 1940. Blue and white flags cover balconies and Thessaloniki holds the military parade the country watches. It suits travellers interested in modern Greek history; expect a sober, proud mood, closures and crowds along the parade route.
Ochi Day is Greece's national day of remembrance for the autumn of 1940, when the country refused an Italian demand to let Axis troops onto its soil and found itself at war. Blue and white flags cover the balconies, and Thessaloniki stages the one military parade the whole nation watches.
The name means "No Day". It honours a refusal, and that gives the anniversary its sober, proud character. Greeks abroad mark it too, as does Cyprus, where it is also a public holiday.
For a visitor, the appeal lies in seeing a country speak with one voice for a morning: soldiers and schoolchildren on the march, whole families at the war memorials, and then the long family lunch that follows.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Thessaloniki, Greece
Venue: City centre
Held: Every year
Type of event: National Day, Parade
Currency: Euro (€ EUR)
Time zone: UTC+2, UTC+3 from late March to late October
Language: Greek
Map
Close to the venue
- Makedonia Palace Hotel · 2.6 km
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Dress and conduct during the commemoration
This is a commemoration of war dead and of the occupation, and Greeks of every age take it to heart. Behave the way you would at a memorial service at home.
- Clothes
- neat and covered if you go into a church for the doxology. Shoulders covered, no beachwear, nothing printed with slogans.
- Anthem and wreaths
- stop walking, stop talking and lower your phone while the anthem plays and the wreaths are laid.
- Flags
- treat the national flag with respect. Do not drape it over yourself for a photo or let it touch the ground.
- Jokes
- leave the holiday's history to the Greeks around you. Light-hearted remarks about the war go down badly.
Closures of shops, banks and museums
Expect a closed country. Schools, banks and public offices take the day off in Greece and Cyprus, and in small towns most shops keep their shutters down at least until the marching is over.
With banks shut, sort out cash and errands on the 27th. Archaeological sites and museums set their own timetable for national holidays, and it changes from year to year. Check the hours on the site's own page before you plan a visit, and keep the morning for the parade.
Finding a viewing spot along the parade route
Pavements along the route fill early, especially on the sunny side and near the stand where officials sit. Arrive well before the start, pick a spot with a wall behind you, and stay put: once the crowd closes in, moving along the route is slow.
- Keep children, bags and pushchairs behind the kerb line. The marching groups need the whole road.
- Photograph from where you stand. Do not step into the road for a better angle, and never walk between a wreath party and the memorial.
- Bring water and something warm. You may stand for a couple of hours, and the shade can turn chilly.
- Police close central streets to traffic, so arrange to meet friends at a fixed landmark.
Where and how it is celebrated
The main cities where the festival is celebrated.
What happens on the day
- Early morning
Flags out
Flags hang from balconies and public buildings across the country.
- Morning
Doxologies
Churches hold short services of thanksgiving, attended by local officials.
- After the services
Wreaths
Officials lay wreaths at war memorials.
- Late morning
Parades
The army marches in Thessaloniki, past editions ending with a flypast over the bay; elsewhere, pupils parade in school uniform.
- Afternoon
A long lunch
The streets empty as families head home or to a taverna, and the city slows down until evening.
Thessaloniki's military parade and where to stay
Go north for this one. Athens and the smaller towns give the day to their schoolchildren, but Thessaloniki holds the national military parade, watched from the official stand by the head of state. The city also has reasons of its own to celebrate that week. Agios Dimitrios, the protector saint of Thessaloniki, has his feast day within the same few days, and the city also marks the day it was freed during the First Balkan War.
Treat the 28th as a day with no errands. Banks and offices shut, and opening hours for sights are unpredictable. Plan the museums for the days either side, and use our Greece pages to shape the rest of the trip.
The events of 28 October 1940
The holiday commemorates a meeting in the small hours. A little after 03:00 on 28 October 1940, Italy's envoy Emanuele Grazzi reached the house of Ioannis Metaxas with an ultimatum: Axis troops were to be allowed into Greece to occupy sites he declined to name. Metaxas turned him down. He said it in French, roughly then it is war, and the Italian army crossed from Albania at 05:30. The single Greek word came from the people. Crowds shouted ochi in the streets that morning, and the newspaper Ellinikon Mellon put it into print two days later.
Greeks under occupation kept the date alive from 1942, quietly at first, and it became a state holiday after the war. Today it stands for refusing to bow, which explains the solemn tone. People treat it more like a remembrance than a party.
Thessaloniki layers its own memories on top. The parade there falls within days of the feast of Agios Dimitrios and the liberation anniversary, so the whole week feels civic. Breakfast after the parade has a local answer too: bougatsa, flaky pastry filled with custard or cheese.
Getting there
Flying in
Thessaloniki's Makedonia International Airport is in Thermi, south-east of the centre. Bus 01X/01N runs 24 hours to the KTEL coach station; the 02X shuttle goes to Nea Elvetia for metro Line 1, and bus X3 links the airport with the Line 2 terminus at Mikra.
From Athens
Hellenic Train runs to Thessaloniki's station on Monastiriou Street, which has its own metro stop. Intercity coaches cover the route too.
On parade morning
Central roads close. Use the metro: Venizelou and Agias Sofias are the stops for Aristotelous Square and Nikis Avenue.
Where to stay during the festival
In Thessaloniki, stay within walking distance of Aristotelous Square, which opens onto Nikis Avenue and the seafront. Ladadika, the old warehouse quarter by the port, suits anyone who wants tavernas and bars on the doorstep.
Hotels see Greek visitors as well as foreign ones that week. Book a few weeks out, earlier when the holiday sits next to a weekend.
Thessaloniki
Makedonia Palace5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$200.00/ night
- Free WiFi
- Swimming pool
- Parking
4 Rooms available
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Weather and what to pack
Late October in Thessaloniki is mild. The airport averages an October high of about 21.4°C and a low of 12.6°C, with around 44 mm of rain over nine wet days (1991-2020 temperature normals).
Days are pleasant for standing along the route, but it cools quickly after sunset.
Worth packing
- A light jacket for the evening
- Comfortable shoes for standing on the seafront
- Sunglasses for a bright morning parade
Car hire in Thessaloniki
Airport transfer to Ochi Day
Met at arrivals at Thessaloniki Makedonia Airport (SKG) and driven door to door to City centre.
- Thessaloniki Makedonia Airport (SKG) → City centre
- 18 km · 25 min
Restaurants and food in Greece
Places to eat in Greece before or after the celebrations.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General
It simply means "no". The holiday takes its name from the answer Greece gave to Italy's ultimatum, so in English it is sometimes called No Day or the Day of No.
Not in those words. The meeting was conducted in French, and his reply amounted to a declaration that war had begun. The one-word Greek version spread through the streets and the press within days.
Thessaloniki. The army marches there before the President of the Republic, while Athens and most other towns give the morning to student parades.
Yes. It is a public holiday in Cyprus as well as Greece, and Greek communities abroad keep the anniversary too.
The Athens student parade passes officials close to Syntagma Square in the city centre. Expect flag waving, the national anthem and closed roads around the square for the morning.
Three anniversaries land close together: Ochi Day, the feast of the city's patron saint Agios Dimitrios, and the date the city was freed in the First Balkan War. Civic events run through the week.
Resistance groups first marked it in 1942, while Greece was still occupied. It was made an official state holiday once the war was over.
A short service of thanks. On national holidays it is held in the morning before the official ceremonies, and local officials attend in person before moving on to lay wreaths.
Getting there
No. It is always kept on 28 October, whichever day of the week that is. Families sometimes add a day or two of leave when it falls next to a weekend, which is why rooms get scarce in those years.
Yes. Bus 01X/01N links the airport and the city's KTEL coach station 24 hours a day, so a late arrival the night before the parade is not a problem. Taxis also meet flights.
Not yet. Trains stop short of the terminal, so the last stretch is always by road. Bus or taxi is the only way in for now, with plans for a rail link still at an early stage.
Timing & weather
The newspaper Ellinikon Mellon used it on 30 October 1940, two days after the ultimatum. By then it had already become the crowd's slogan.
