Greece Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Public holidays and festivals === {{Main|Public holidays in Greece}} [[File:Virgin Mary procession, Chora of Naxos, 118916.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Procession in honor of the Assumption of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]] (15 August)]] According to Greek law, every Sunday of the year is a public holiday. Since the late '70s, Saturday also is a non-school and not working day. In addition, there are four mandatory official public holidays: 25 March (''[[Greek Independence Day]]''), [[Easter Monday]], 15 August (''[[Dormition of the Mother of God|Assumption or Dormition of the Holy Virgin]]''), and 25 December (''Christmas''). 1 May (''Labour Day'') and 28 October (''[[Ohi Day]]'') are regulated by law as being optional but it is customary for employees to be given the day off. There are, however, more public holidays celebrated in Greece than are announced by the Ministry of Labour each year as either obligatory or optional. The list of these non-fixed national holidays rarely changes and has not changed in recent decades, giving a total of eleven national holidays each year. In addition to the national holidays, there are public holidays that are not celebrated nationwide, but only by a specific professional group or a local community. For example, many municipalities have a "Patron Saint" parallel to "[[Name days in Greece|Name Days]]", or a "Liberation Day".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eortologio.gr/index_uk.php |title=Greek Name Days for the Year 2018 |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref> On such days it is customary for schools to take the day off. Notable festivals, beyond the religious fests, include [[Patras Carnival]], [[Athens Festival]] and various local wine festivals. The city of [[Thessaloniki]] is also home of a number of festivals and events. The [[International Thessaloniki Film Festival|Thessaloniki International Film Festival]] is one of the most important film festivals in Southern Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmfestival.gr/default.aspx?lang=el-GR&loc=1&page=586|script-title=el:Διεθνές Φεστιβάλ Κινηματογράφου Θεσσαλονίκης – Προφίλ|trans-title=Thessaloniki International Film Festival – Profile|language=el|access-date=3 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905090357/http://www.filmfestival.gr/default.aspx?lang=el-GR&loc=1&page=586|archive-date=5 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page