Festivities in Mykonos: a not-to-miss experience!

If we were to send you a holiday card from Mykonos, this natural gem floating in the Aegean Sea and attracting millions of tourists every year, it would depict a beautiful, illuminated fishing boat, ornated with numerous colorfoul flags, symbolizing the global character of New Year’s celebrations.

Mykonos isn’t typically associated with Christmas and New Year’s holidays. In contrast, most people think of its endless golden sandy beaches, breathtaking coastline, and countless whitewashed small houses climbing the hills and reflecting the bright summer sun. However, those who truly appreciate Greece’s uniqueness would choose to celebrate the New Year in its stunning archipelago.

Everywhere around it, instead of Christmas trees, you will find picturesque little festive boats that symbolize the inhabitants’ longing for easy-going sea journeys in calm waters. Christmas is a warm, family-centered celebration that gathers loved ones around a table filled with delicacies such as pies with meats and vegetables, roasted lamb, goat, fresh salads, plenty of wine and sweet treats like the famous sugar-coated “kourabiedes” cookies and delectable honey cookies (“melomakarona”).

On New Year’s Eve, the partygoers first enjoy similar mouthwatering festive delicacies, and as soon as the clock strikes midnight, the head of the household brings out the New Year’s cake. The “Vasilopita”, as it is called, tastes either like a soft cake or brioche, and contains a hidden lucky coin. The hosts will count how many people are “entitled” to a piece and will cut it evenly, so that everyone gets their own. Everybody must keep quiet until the cake is shared, and then is free to search for the coin. The one who finds it is supposed to be lucky for the whole new year and will also receive a small symbolic gift. After midnight, most people will spill out into the streets to celebrate, dancing and drinking until dawn.

But don’t worry if you miss New Year’s Eve in the Greek islands. About three months later, after the first full moon of spring, on April 20, the orthodox Easter will arrive. It’s a great opportunity to enjoy this most beautiful time of the year, when nature blooms, the weather gets warmer and a series of different festive traditions –regardless of personal beliefs– invite the whole world to celebrate the resurrection of life and the triumph of love.

In Mykonos, as in other regions of Greece, it’s not just the customs and traditions that make these celebrations unique but also the gastronomic feasts that accompany them. At Easter, lamb is roasted in courtyards and gardens, served with baked potatoes, delicious pies, rich salads and red-dyed eggs for a friendly egg-cracking contest; one of the most characteristic customs. Similar to the lucky coin in New Year’s cake, the ones who manage to keep their eggs intact from cracking are considered lucky!

So, keep our wishes for a New Year full of good health, luck, love and joy, and plan to spend some of these next festive seasons in Mykonos!