Photography / Text: Michael Pappas
Photography / Text: George Tatakis
Events
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20/05/2018 - 21/05/2018
Firewalking in Agia Eleni village
Location: Greece / Central Macedonia / Ag Eleni
Photography / Text: Michael Pappas
The famous religious custom of walking on burning coal barefoot. Believers perform a ritual Dionysian dance to get to a state of nirvana before walking on burning coals.
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21/05/2018 - 21/05/2018
Firewalking at Lagadas
Location: Greece / Central Macedonia / Lagadas
Photography / Text: Michael Pappas
Annual dancing on fire (Anastenaria) taking place in a village nearby Salonica. A very old custom and very famous in Greece. A lot of people visit from Salonica to see the event.
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14/05/2018 - 15/05/2018
Oil wrestling
Location: Greece / Central Macedonia / Nigrita
Photography / Text: Michael Pappas
They started wrestling. Nobody was backing up. From where I was standing I could not take good pictures. When I approached the wrestlers, the watchers started yelling at me for ruining their view. I decided to be exactly behind the referee in order not to disturb anyone and when I saw something interesting I took pictures as fast as possible.
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23/12/2018 - 23/12/2018
Fires of Giourouki
Location: Greece / Central Macedonia / Florina
Photography / Text: George Tatakis
While waiting for the fire of Achlada to start at midnight, a custom that takes place in many villages around Florina on December 23, the guys we met there told us to go together at the next village, Giourouki, to see the fire there as well. They would start that earlier than Achlada, since that was a smaller village and most of the local people there would visit the big fire of Achlada later.
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06/01/2019 - 06/01/2019
Blessing of the water in Koronea Lake
Location: Greece / Central Macedonia / Lagkadas
Photography / Text: George Tatakis
On January 6, the water is blessed and a cross is being cast in the sea, lake or nearby river for that purpose. Some men will dive in to catch the cross. The one who gets it will have luck in the following year.
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06/01/2019 - 06/01/2019
Arapides of Profitis
Location: Greece / Central Macedonia / Egnatia
Photography / Text: George Tatakis
On the day of Epiphany, January 6, in a village nearby Thessaloniki, called Profitis (Prophet), the custom of Arapides takes place. This is a Dionysian custom where people of the village are dressed in goat's skin, wear colorful long hats and hang large pastoral bells around their waists to scare away the Kallikantzaroi.
