A more detailed version of my article published in Hürriyet Seyahat
Rio The biggest carnival in the world after the carnival in Xanthi is the carnival in Xanthi.. I thought it would be impossible not to go when you are this close to us, what did I do, I went to this carnival. What I did, what I did, what I ate, what I drank, I wrote it all down.. First a brief history, then unlimited fun
How Was Xanthi Carnival Created?
Xanthi little Who knows how it turned into the biggest carnival after the carnival in Rio when it was a Turkish village? There are many legends about how the Xanthi Carnival came about.. The most well-known; Rumors that Jesus will be a prophet in the future increase. Hz. The news comes to Meryem that her son will be found and murdered.. The people paint the faces of all children, making them unrecognizable so that the child Jesus is not found.. After 10 days, when these news are found to be unfounded, Jesus and the other children are cleansed.. This is how a clean monday occurs. Dedicated to the salvation of the life of Jesus Christ, all the people have fun like crazy. They wear masks, paint their faces, dance. The next day, they enter their religious holidays.
Don’t forget to follow me on my instagram account. I tell a lot in stories and highlights
Instagram: Nerdesinbahar
To be frank, I didn’t know about the religious dimension of this carnival until Monday.. Monday, everything was closed.. We went to have fun as an ordinary carnival. We also asked the people living here, the origin story of the carnival.. There were even those who declared that Xanthi was liberated from the Bulgarians. Xanthi, a Turkish village from Ottoman times. Most people we met were Turkish.. Don’t say, “How well do you speak Turkish,” they get angry.. “Oh, are you Turkish?” don’t say nothing, they get angry more.
Is it reasonable to go to Xanthi with a tour or individually?
How to Go to Xanthi?
It seems economical to me to go with a tour at first, but when I look at the programs of the tours, it does not appeal to my purpose at all.. They go to Thessaloniki and only visit the carnival for a few hours.. I learn from my friends who went on tour before that they waited for hours at the border gate.. I remember that I waited at the border gate for 7 hours on my way to Bansko just a month ago.. I want to join the carnival. I don’t want to suffer, I don’t want to crawl. We decide to go by car last minute.. If you are very reckless, many bus companies go to Xanthi.. Ticket prices are around 90 TL. Since we left it at the last minute, the hotel did not stay in Xanthi.. The nearest place is 15 minutes by car.. I want to stay in the center. When you open the mouth of the purse a little, that problem is solved. We’re leaving around nine in the morning on Saturday.. After passing through the traffic of Istanbul, the rest of the road ends in a flash.. There are not many cars at the border. We are crossing the border around one o’clock.
- Click here if you want to read my Bansko adventure.
We pay a fee of 1.20 euros and then 1.90 euros twice on the highway.. Still no auto switch on them. Before we go abroad, we download the map of our destination to our phone and use it as offline navigation.. We don’t bother asking for directions, searching or getting lost.
Xanthi
We are in Xanthi around 3 o’clock. Follow the Old Town signs and you’ll reach the carnival area. Confetti everywhere.. Something happened here before we left. We later learned that people had been having fun for a week.. At the time we went, the road around the square where people gathered to have fun was open and we were able to park in a back street of the square.. Before it all starts, we want to explore the area a bit.
We came with our masks, but we still want to go into all the shops and see what’s here.. Cemile has a shop right across the square.. Do not try to shop as if there is no other shop like us.. This is the most expensive. The street where the cortege was held is full of costumers from right and left.. We put on, take off, play with masks and hats. Colorful wigs are everyone’s favorite. I couldn’t get a wig because it couldn’t cover my hair. No matter what I did, my hair always came out from the bottom.. The ones I liked were the same as my own hair.
When we walk from the square to the fair side, we come across peddlers.. We see the same materials cheaper this time at these vendors.. “Are these Greek made? I’m still laughing at the “tea and white” answer to our question ‘. A market was set up on the way to the fair.. Grills are burnt, suplaki are cooking. Food smells everywhere.. Everywhere there is a sound of music, masked and costumed people.. We’re wandering around blowing the whistles we got. I haven’t blown that much whistle since I was a kid.
We find Xanthippi Taverna’, which we learned from our friends before we left, with a view of the city from the top. Recep tells us that a Turkish group of 25 people will arrive the next day.. This group is friends who did not participate in our tours but agreed to meet at the carnival.. We leave to come back the next evening.. The only tavern on the hill with a magnificent view of Xanthi. There is also a cafe across the street.. Of course, we do not know that we will not be able to come back here after we took the car and left the square.. The city is divided into two from the evening. All roads are closed. The road takes us to a huge parking lot close to the fairground.. If you throw a needle in this free parking lot, which was empty when we went, it won’t fall to the ground.
Eating and Drinking in Xanthi
Iskece thinks there is no Lidel and goes to Alexandroupolis. We entered, but there was only one entrance to Xanthi.. Lidl is like Greece’s Bim market. Products are of good quality and inexpensive. It is very difficult to find a market around the square where the carnival is located, and everything is expensive, including alcohol.. It’s good to have it before you come.. There are pita and doner shops everywhere.. You cannot stay hungry. Prices are not expensive. Tiny little shops have food but no wifi. Eating and drinking are even cheaper in mobile places set up on the streets of the fairground.. Dessert in Greece, the baklava thing is bad, one can hardly hold back. It doesn’t make much sense to choose something creamy. Like some margarine. sheer oil. Sorbet desserts are a legend. I would say don’t come back without tasting the cot that is unique to this place.
As we head towards the fairground, we find a restaurant called OK on the right. Owner is Turkish. A master from Gaziantep is making lahmacun. He says, “People here put the doner in the lahmacun and eat it“. Then so do we. Internet works fine. It’s a three-story place.
You don’t have to eat anything. We use OK restaurant every time we are tired, cold, when internet is needed.. All restaurants allow you to use their restrooms. I guess this is the price of carnival. They put three or five mobile toilets behind the square, but this will never be enough for thousands of people anyway.
Time for Xanthi Carnival
We say let’s take a rest in the car instead of going to the hotel because we are sleepless and tired.. We fall asleep for a few hours. This parking lot is very close to the square.. Back and forth, we learned the shortcut streets.. We put on our masks and go out into the square that people are cut off.. DJs broadcast music all over the city, including the roads where the cortege will pass.. I laugh when I think of my Greek Dance teacher teaching Xanthi dances and sending me here.. Who will do the traditional dance? Mountain stone resonates with techno, pop, rock music. When we are warned to be mindful of our bags, I stuff everything in my pockets and relax.
We find a nice place and immerse ourselves in music and having fun with people we just met. We can endure the entertainment that lasts until five in the morning.. We will take the car and go to the hotel, but how? All roads are closed. Let’s rest a bit, then we will find a solution, we are the confused people who fall asleep in the car and cannot go to the hotel.. It’s lucky for us that we didn’t pay for the hotel, but I’m not upset that someone else could have benefited.. I can’t believe we woke up at almost 12 o’clock. I don’t sleep that much at home.
Xanthi Carnival Cortege
Somewhere, we wash our hands and run to the place where the cortege will pass.. Few people across the road. We want to get to that side, but what is possible?. I run up and down like a decapitated chicken and then I’m stuck with people who end up on a bench. I always land on all fours anyway. Carnival starts at around 1:30 in all its glory.. The weather is magnificent, the sun is shining.
Associations announce their costumes every year and whoever wants to wear which costume, buys from those associations.. There were such fun costumes. Colorful and interesting. Most of the men were dressed as women.
Try to stay close to the columns during the cortege.. People attending the parade are often clamoring loudly at the bottom of the columns. People who walk and dance, whistle, spray spray, paint the faces of people waiting on the sidelines.. They throw confetti. Everyone, everyone is having so much fun.
We watched the cortege for hours, danced, took photos and videos. Towards the end, we crossed the barriers and mingled with people.. We proceeded to the square by blowing the whistles.. People walking in the cortege are walking towards the fairground after having fun for a while in the square.. The fun continues there. Thousands of people had fun for days, alcohol threshold was really high. There was no incident, nor did I see the proper police.. This is a beautiful world where no one interferes with anyone else, where you only have to laugh, have fun and be fed, and no one blames anyone for doing these things.
Evening We will go to Xanthippi Restaurant and join the other group, but it is impossible to leave the city that is divided into two.. Although the navigation constantly tries to reveal where the clock tower is, it is closed and there is no passage. We’re climbing the hills, saying here and there. While we were looking at the city view the day before, we were very happy when we found the mosque we saw below, but it is an early joy.. We find ourselves on the mountain road to the monastery, which I still don’t understand how. We go quite a long way on dark mountain roads and find the restaurant.. The group I talked to on the phone before but didn’t meet is inside.. There is a special program for this group in the restaurant that normally does not have music.. We meet Ms. Nermin and she sits us at the table of her Greek friends.. We meet a very sweet family. I think we’ll definitely see you in the future.
Sirtakis are ringing. I don’t know how many more teachers I will change, but the sirtaki made by this group is also different.. We close the carnival with delicious seafood accompanied by half Greek and half Turkish music.. They were still having fun at full throttle when we left town around two o’clock.
