It’s worth booking Crete all inclusive holidays in late summer as though the place is a lot quieter there are still a lot of festivals occurring, which are fun to participate in.
One of the strangest but most enjoyable festivals takes place in Rethymnon every year from July to September. The town transforms itself back to a medieval Venetian town. Over the 24 years the festival has been running, it has grown in size annually . It is now so famous that people come from around the world and take Crete holidays just to join in the festival fun. Medieval plays are staged including the works of Goldini and Shakespeare. Medieval music is also featured, played on authentic medieval instruments like the serpent and sackbut.
For something completely different, the celebrated Crete Sultana Festival takes place in the last week in August in the village of Sitia. The Festival is in honour of the sultana which plays such an important part in the Cretan economy. Everyone joins in the spirit of the festival by giving gifts of sultana bread to their neighbours and the local tavernas serve sultana themed dishes. The Chestnut Festival in Elos on the third Sunday in October every year, honours the village’s ancient chestnut trees. The chestnuts are gathered in by the whole village who then proceed to hull them. The hulled chestnuts are roasted throughout the village on portable stoves and shared with neighbours over many glasses of local wine.
An important public holiday called Ochi Day occurs throughout Greece and Crete in particular on October 28th. It came about when Mussolini, the Italian dictator asked if he could base Italian troops on mainland Greece at the start of World War Two. Mussolini was given a resounding ‘ochi’ which translates as ‘no’. This is such an important day for all Greeks that many travel home on all inclusive holidays to Crete to honour the event and join in the observance. There are church services and processions and a celebration of Cretan culture to show the world the determination and fortitude of this island people.