Anthestiria in Cyprus
May 6 · Level 4 · #1379 of 2238
Anthestiria is Cyprus's spring flower festival, a cheerful welcome to the season when the island is in full bloom.
How it is celebrated: towns host parades of carriages and cars covered in fresh flowers, people in festive outfits toss blossoms at one another, and music and street parties fill the squares.
The name goes back to ancient Greece, where the Athenian Anthesteria was a spring festival of wine and the god Dionysus. The word is linked to the Greek anthos, meaning "flower".