A Glimpse of Festival Season in Tilos

A couple of days after the festival of Kamariani at the little monastery on the north-facing cliffs of Tilos, our village of Megalo Horio holds a koupa, a night of dancing in the square by the church. The koupa is a cup where men put money to pay for dances, and it's a night for locals but also for anyone who wants to join in. The evening starts with the musicians up in the kafeneion, and everyone getting into the spirit of things with food and drink. Then when it's time, they start to head down the stairs, still playing and singing along the way...

... and into the square, where they finish off the song, and the ladies who have been sitting patiently to guard the best seats for the last couple of hours can finally get ready to dance.

This was a lively koupa, not too crowded and everyone enjoyed the dancing, none more so than our jolly, friendly priest, who gave the young lads a run for their money. I even got to dance with Nikos, best known to most as the travelling barber; Stelios always says his dad dances very well but very rarely, so I was lucky he kept his promise and was a very gallant dance leader.

The next day marked the start of the 'Honey Festival' to celebrate island culture, held up at the Messinia Amphitheatre, better known as Harkadio Cave, where the elephant bones were excavated. Stelios decided that Team Kantina would do the souvlaki barbecue at the entrance, so at dusk we were chilling drinks and turning juicy skewers of pork over the hot charcoal grills for hungry and thirsty dancers and audience...

Once we'd fed and watered the masses, I sneaked away to watch the traditional dance performances: the children...

... and the ladies' group, of which I am usually one, but have missed August's lessons because of kantina duties...

And the older teenagers, who were breath-takingly brilliant...

This morning, 27 August, the singing of the service for St Fanourios could be heard all around Megalo Horio. As I found out this time last year, he's the saint of lost things. Tilos lost some good people earlier this year, but its traditions are strong, keeping the community together.