The Greek seaside town of Galaxidi erupted into its annual “flour war” on Monday as people marked Clean Monday, a holiday that begins the Orthodox Christian season of Lent. The revelry opened the end of carnival season festivities in the town with a sharp change in tone from the lead-up days, turning streets into a mess of flour-dyed color as participants tossed bags of flour at one another.
Witnesses described the main coastal road becoming flour-strewn as the celebration drew in many residents and visitors. Most people joined in the chaotic play, while others chose to stay back and watch from the safety of balconies overlooking the action, according to the account of participants and residents.
Within a couple of hours, the main celebration largely ended, but some diehards kept going into the night. Many of the visitors were young people who said they had come to Galaxidi for the first time, including Stephanos Kapetanakis, 28, who said, “We had a great time. We’ll come back,” as he was accompanied by friends.
In most of Greece, Clean Monday is marked with quieter traditions, including flying kites and eating seafood. Clean Monday’s place on the calendar is set by Orthodox practice: it signals the start of the 40-day fasting period that runs until Easter, following the end of carnival season.
Galaxidi’s festivities, by contrast, have long been described as raucous, with participants pushing the celebration further when they can. The holiday itself can be traced to the Orthodox calendar, but the “flour war” in Galaxidi has been portrayed as drawing on older customs that were blended into Christian observance over time.
A resident, Panayiotis Paphilis, said the custom was brought to the town by ancestors who arrived in sailboats around 1800. He added that the flour war tradition “only exists here,” describing it as an explosion of color that takes place every Clean Monday.
The report also described the town’s history as a factor in preserving the tradition. Galaxidi, once a major port about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Athens, later lost contact with the outside world as traffic to its harbors shrank and the town remained cut off by mountains until a road was built in the 1960s.