Corfu Easter 2023 – Biggest Religious Event

Easter in Corfu as in all of Greece this year will be celebrated on May 4th, 2023.

Easter in Corfu is spectacular, impressive and glorious more than anywhere in the world! Holy Week ceremonies begin on Palm Sunday, when at 11.00 am the procession of the Holy Shrine of Saint Spyridon takes place commemorating the miracle of the Saint who expelled the plague from the island back in 1629.

Corfu Easter, a huge celebration bringing thousands of visitors each year to the island gains momentum for 10 days leading up to the great Resurrection Mass itself. This special event is a great reason to visit Corfu during spring. Celebrations start on Great Monday with events such as the music and poetry evening, on Great Wednesday at all churches, the Unctions are sung.

Holy Thursday
Holy Thursday is the day in which the red eggs are painted and the Twelve Gospel readings are made in all churches. In Corfu the Catholic church participates in all events of the Orthodox Church and celebrates together, having arranged papal dispensation for this, as otherwise families and communities would be divided.

Good Friday
The epitaph processions of Good Friday in Corfu have different colors and follow a ritual that makes the event even more impressive. Processions of Epitaphs come out from every church and all intersect in the centre of town. Throughout the journey, thousands of lit candles are located on roadsides indicating its path. The three main bands of the city accompany it all the way playing, each one a different song.

Great Saturday
The events and rites of Holy Saturday are perhaps the best moments of Easter in Corfu, starting at 6 o’clock in the morning with prcoessions in the cities different churches. Suddenly the mood changes within a few minutes from the mourning of the epitaph to the joy of the first Easter which here happens at 11:00 a.m. on the morning of Saturday.
This is the custom that all guests and locals are waiting for and which only happens here, from all the balconies in every home of the island residents throw in the streets large clay pitchers, many filled with water, and at the same time, all the church bells peal joyfully, especially at the central point near the Liston, the most crowded place and the real centre of this custom.
The origin of the custom, which lasts for several minutes, is not entirely clear. Whatever the origin is the noisy Corfiots have adopted the custom and every year they try to find ways to make it last longer, and louder. During this time the bands play joyful songs and march through the town.
And finally, the time that everybody is waiting for is reached, the hour of resurrection.
The most spectacular Resurrection Mass is in the bandstand on the Upper Esplanade in Corfu Town, but each village has its ceremonies, beginning in church and ending out of doors, depending on the weather, and all wonderful to witness.

No Easter without Food on Easter Sunday
After the Resurrection service took place, the party continues all night with a soup that here has a special name called “tsilichourda”, plenty of wine, Easter cakes called “Fogatsa” or “doves” and clubbing until the morning. Traditional Easter lunch was the egg and lemon soup (avgolemono) plus 2-3 types of meat, and they used to grill the lamb on the second day of Easter, this has been changed in recent years however and now everyone roasts the lamb on a large spit, often accompanied by the kokoretsi on a smaller one below it. Following more celebrations, on Sunday afternoon there are processions of icons and relics in different parts of the island almost daily until the following Sunday.

Find the detailed schedule here