Learn the secrets of the Cypriot cuisine, tantalize your palate with unique traditional flavors, meet ardent handcrafters and enjoy a scenery of mountain tops dotted with fruit-bearing trees and pine trees at the Gastronomy and Traditional Festivals taking place at our picturesque villages in the Troodos Mountain Range.

Gastronomy and Traditional Festivals have a commendable way of combining traditional elements and turning them into fascinating exploratory experiences and outdoor parties. These fests offer you the chance to taste Cyprus in one day. Numerous kiosks line up like toy soldiers at the village squares where you can taste and buy traditional local delicacies, such as Trachanas soup (a thick soup based on a mixture of grain and fermented milk), Palouzes (creamy dessert; grape juice mixed with flour), Halloumi cheese, cured meats, Resi (wheat with meat dish), Glyka tou koutaliou (spoon sweet preserves), Cyprus bread, wine, Zivania (a distilled beverage) and much more. Don’t miss the cooking demonstrations by Michelin starred Cypriot chefs and TV personalities who present traditional dishes and new recipes based on local products.

Handcrafters and artisans also join these festivals aiming to educate, inspire, preserve and promote the traditional crafts and arts of Cyprus. It is a way for the young people to learn about disappearing occupations and for the elderly to recall their childhood. Watch the whole procedure of how you weave a reed basket and understand their different uses. See demonstrations of how to make various shepherd’s tools like vourka (a goatskin bag made of the intact skin of a goat), or a crook. Learn the secrets of traditional chair making, admire the patterns of embroideries, sit on a voufa (loom) and weave clothes and tapestries.

All festivals feature traditional music and dancing. Dance along to the rhythm of our traditional music and applaud the artful moves of the skillful dancers.

Make the most of your visit in all these villages by visiting local attractions, Byzantine churches and rural museums that remain open during the festivals, which are perceived as the “event of the year” of each village.