REGIONAL UNIT OF SERRES: TRADITION AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE
Cultural events in the city of Serres
The Municipality of Serres, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Serres, the Central Public Library, the General State Archives, the Maximeion Spiritual and Cultural Centre of the Holy Metropolis of Serrai and Nigrita, and the Film Club are actively involved in the contemporary cultural scene of the town of Serres. There are also long-standing cultural institutions such as Orpheas, the city’s oldest cultural association with its choir, and the Society of Friends of Literature and the Arts.
The most important institution is that of the Eleutheria Festival, which commemorates the liberation of Serres (29 June 1913) with musical, theatrical and other performances at open-air venues.
An important hub of cultural and social life is the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Serres, one of the first created by the Ministry of Culture in 1984. Housed in the renovated Asteria Municipal Theatre, it organises plays, theatre education courses, thematic evenings and special events. Since 2004, it has organised the International Student Theatre Universiade with participants from all over the world.
The Lykeion ton Ellinidon (Lyceum Club of Greek Women) of Serres and other local associations highlight its music and dance tradition and local customs at feasts and festivals, such as the Panhellenic Dance Meeting in September and the Tsiknopempti Carnivals, organised by the Municipality of Serres, on the second to last Thursday before Great Lent.
Performances and events in the wider region
On January 8, in Monokklisia, Nea Petra, Ano Kamila, Livadia and elsewhere, the Babo custom is revived. The women, in the person of the old Babo, the village midwife, honour Mother Earth for bearing fruit with feasting and dancing. The custom originates in Eastern Rumelia.
On the second Sunday of Carnival, a great carnival bonfire is lit in Serres. This is the Tzamala, an Epirotic custom performed by the Epirotes living in the city. A traditional feast is set up around the bonfire, with mocking songs, masqueraders and various performances.
On Cheesefare Sunday, the last day before Lent, the Thracian Kalogeros (Good Old Man) is performed in Agia Eleni. The Kalogeros, dressed in a sheepskin and with a gourd on his head, accompanied by the king, musicians and other masqueraders, goes around the houses wishing people a good harvest. The event concludes with a re-enactment of ploughing and sowing. On the same day, in Flambouro, the Babougeroi come out. They wear striking costumes of animal skins with bells and a tall, black, pointed hat decorated with colourful ribbons.
On 1 March, on the initiative of the Lykeion ton Ellinidon of Serres (Lyceum Club of Greek Women), the Chelidonismata (“swallow songs”) are revived. Children sing the arrival of the birds while holding a wooden swallow.
On Lazarus Saturday (the feast before Palm Sunday, celebrating the raising of Lazarus), the Lazarines, groups of girls, used to visit people’s houses, reciting praises for the younger members of each family. The housewife would give them a small amount of money tied in a handkerchief and place flour and eggs in a basket carried by two boys. Finally, she would throw a sieve into the courtyard to predict the harvest. The Carols of Lazarus are sung today in the town of Serres on the initiative of the Lykeion ton Ellinidon (Lyceum Club of Greek Women) of Serres.
The local religious festivals are annual highlights for the communities and an occasion for cultural activities. The most famous is that of the Nativity of the Virgin celebrated in Skotoussa in September, which has been inscribed on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The events include the litany or procession of the icon of the Virgin, food, feasting and dancing to the zournas (shawm) and daouli drum, as well as commercial and sporting activities. Traditional folk festivals are held to celebrate local products: the Cherry Festival in Anastasia, the Maize Festival in Valtero and the Fish Festival in Lithotopos near Lake Kerkini. A four-day ecological festival is held on the shores of the lake in July, with speeches, sporting competitions and music and dance events.
