Achaia preserves its traditions and customs in a way that resists time. The quaint cafes in its villages, with their constant customers who exchange views and play traditional board games such as card games and backgammon, the keeping of old celebration customs such as "Koulouma", the outdoor events, the celebration of Christmas, Easter and other religious days, the singing of carols by older and younger generations, as well as the human relationships and principles of fellowship and concern for the neighbor, and the hospitality of the people, all show that here the codes of honor and humanity are still being kept and new customs can hardly alter them.
Legend in Achaia became tradition and tradition found its way to the present through memory events, fests and celebrations of happiness called fests by some or festivals by others.
The melancholy at the mountainous part of Achaia gives way to unrestrainable joy and the modern art, to the impulsive celebrations of the past that refer to customs and traditions, habits and unbreakable bonds of life.
Dionysus, the smiling god of ancient times, a symbol of incompatibility and fun, the god of wine and celebration, is the one who gave Achaia, and especially Patra, a reason to stand out every winter.

Patras Carnival

The Carnival is the modern version of the Dionysian Mysteries, one of the most important carnivals in Europe and the most crowded one in terms of its active participants.
It embraces thousands of Greek and foreign youths who flood the streets of Patra every February to unwind the city’s biological clock and have fun until the early morning hours. It is an outdoor fest of inestimable intensity of joy, with parades of floats and hundreds of crews that lasts for a whole month and attracts tourists from all over the world.

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International Festival of Patras

The capital of Achaia region is known for its International Festival, which usually lasts from July to September and makes the Roman Theater (Ancient Odeon) the center of the most important cultural inter-European contacts.

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Institution Of Ancient Drama

Patra is one of the very few European cities to host two summer festivals. Apart from the International Festival, which bears the stamp of the Municipality, the visitor has the opportunity, each summer and especially in August, to see important theatrical plays in frames of the Festival of the Organization Of Artistic Events- Institution of Ancient Drama.
 
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International Festival of Film & Culture

Patra’s International Festival of Film & Culture activities expands into a variety of arts such as theatre, photography, poetry and visual creation through the participation of an increasing number of individuals and organized communities of the city associated with arts and culture.

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