Greek Town Turns Chaotic in Colorful ‘Flour Battle’ Tradition

Residents and visitors in the Greek coastal town of Galaxidi participated in their annual flour-throwing celebration Monday to mark the beginning of Lent. The unique 200-year-old tradition transforms the town's main street into a colorful battlefield as people hurl bags of colored flour at each other.

GALAXIDI, Greece — A coastal Greek community transformed into a chaotic battlefield of flying flour Monday as locals and tourists engaged in their traditional celebration marking the beginning of the Lenten season.

The main waterfront street in Galaxidi became covered in a rainbow of colored flour as participants hurled bags of the dyed powder at one another during the annual festivities. Town residents and numerous visitors enthusiastically joined the messy celebration, while others watched safely from nearby balconies.

The colorful chaos lasted several hours, though some dedicated participants continued the festivities well into the evening hours.

“This custom was brought here by (our ancestors) in their sailboats, in 1800. It only exists here,” said Panayiotis Paphilis, a local resident.

This vibrant spectacle occurs annually on Clean Monday, an important Orthodox Christian observance that begins Lent — the 40-day fasting period leading up to Easter. The holiday also signals the conclusion of carnival season, which maintains connections to the nation’s ancient pre-Christian customs.

First-time visitors, particularly young adults, made up a significant portion of the crowd.

“We had a great time. We’ll come back,” said Stephanos Kapetanakis, 28, who was accompanied by several of his friends.

Across most of Greece, Clean Monday observances tend to be much calmer, typically involving kite flying and eating large quantities of shellfish and seafood.

However, in Galaxidi — a former shipping hub located approximately 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Athens — the celebrations are notably boisterous, with participants attempting to make each year more intense than the last.

While many comparable festivals trace back to ancient pagan origins that have been incorporated into Christian traditions, Galaxidi’s flour battle appears to have more recent beginnings.

The custom dates to the 1800s, when seafaring merchants drew inspiration from similar events they witnessed in Sicily during the era when locally-constructed sailing vessels traveled global trade routes.

Those prosperous times eventually ended, and Galaxidi — now home to 1,700 residents — became cut off from the wider world as harbor traffic declined and mountain ranges blocked road access to other areas.

Road construction didn’t occur until the 1960s, but the decades of isolation helped maintain the community’s distinctive traditions.