Organiser: Municipality of Larnaca
The Festival of the Flood or Kataklysmos Fair, with deep roots reaching back to ancient Greek antiquity, adapted to today’s realities but preserving tradition, is celebrated with grandeur in the city of Zenon. Throughout the centuries of foreign conquests, it endured uninterrupted.
Every year, a rich festive program is compiled. Traditional competitions of Cypriot poetry, love songs, flute and bagpipe playing have their origins in Homeric antiquity. Equally significant are the dance competitions, including the kartzilamas, syrtos, zeibekiko, and drepaniós. Dozens of folk poets and artists compete skillfully in verse, music, dance, and song. The Flood Festival is perhaps the only festival in Cyprus that gathers such a multitude of folk artists from all parts of Cyprus and possibly the only festival where our folk tradition is presented in its pure form. A significant role in preserving our tradition is the presentation of traditional professions. The competitions of ‘tsiattismata’ have been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In addition to the aforementioned traditional competitions, mention should be made of the children’s song contest and the amateur singers’ contest, which attract great interest, as well as the aquatic competitions, swimming races, island-wide beach volleyball competitions, chess competitions, and more. The Festival program is embellished with various other entertaining activities, folk concerts, dance performances, satire and imitations, parades, magicians, shadow theater performances, and children’s theater performances. Every year, thousands of artists, hundreds of vendors, and hundreds of thousands of visitors participate in organizing this festival.
Event Frequency: Every year, on the day of Pentecost, 7 weeks after Easter
Contact Person: Akis Ioannou
+357 24629333
