The time of joy and the optimistic message that the paternal carnival always sends is approachingsince on Saturday January 20 the great celebration begins, with the opening ceremony that will take place in Georgiou Square.

In fact, the great celebration of Patras promises to offer many emotions and many doses of joy in the biggest carnival season for many years, which will end on Sunday, March 17.

This year’s theme of the Patras Carnival, as announced by the “public benefit enterprise of the Municipality of Patras – Carnival of Patras”, (KEDIP), is “What if they “grind us”? Our dreams continue to lift us up. Be Unplugged! Well”.

As the Mayor of Patreon, Kostas Peletidis, said during a press conference, “carnival has always been a celebration of joy and creativity, a celebration of rebirth of hope and optimism”.

“We will deal with it as such this year as well“, he continued, “without forgetting for a moment that our events are held in war conditions, in a very difficult social and economic environment”. At the same time, he emphasized that “this year too, we will be happy, have fun, dance, sing and take courage to continue to face life, rejoice in it and strive to improve it».

The events will start tomorrow, after the auctioneer, Maria Agouridis, will take to the streets of Patras, together with the musical float, to convey the hopeful message of the opening to the city.

On Saturday morning, the banner of the paternal carnival will be handed over to the mayor, after the procession, in which the percussion group “Ritmo Loco Street Band”, the “X-Saltibagos”, the carnival bicycles, the president of KEDIP will participate – Patras Carnival, Hera Kouri and the members of the Board, the queen of the paternal carnival, Georgia Sakka, members of the advisory and jury committee, volunteers, the auctioneer Maria Agouridis with the musical float and the rest of the participants and carnivalists.

The event will be marked by the well-established custom of the chocolate war by the mayor, the president of KEDIP and the representatives of the associations of chocolatiers, “Chocolate Riches”, “Chocolate Runs”, “Chocolate Maniacs”, “Chocolate Battles”, “Chocolate Players” offering their own sweets touch with their chocolate sprinkles from the balcony of the City Hall.

At 6:00 on Saturday evening, a party will begin in Georgiou Square, while two hours later, at 8:00 p.m., the theater troupe (Helix street theater) with the Baroque parade will depart from the Town Hall. The Baroque parade, according to KEDIP, “is an action in the form of a night parade, particularly impressive, communicative and matching the spirit of the carnival celebration”.

It will feature ten actors and three percussionists. Also, high stilts with suspensions, huge skirts and spectacular costumes of different colors, acrobats, fire jugglers, and Harlequins will compose a special image.

At 9:00 the Mayor of Patreon will officially announce the opening ceremony and will follow the traditional custom of the chocolate war. The opening ceremony will also include a two-hour concert with Penny Baltatzi, while the presenters of the opening ceremony will be the amateur actors, Vasso Kalokairinou and Alexandros Bistas.

Furthermore, according to KEDIP, “the opening ceremony could not miss the historical game of ‘Hidden Treasure’, which turns 59 years old this year, while graphic videos with archival material from moments of the national carnival from the archive will be shown on the screens of KEDIP”.