The Arillas wine festival is held every first Saturday of September. In 2020 it will be on the 5th of September. During the festival we make wine the traditional way. The grapes come with a donkey, escorted by the local village men and women wearing traditional costumes and singing wine harvest songs. Then the grapes are crushed by foot in a big barrel and wine is made using all the traditional utensils.

During the festival there is lots of music and dancing and you can drink last year’s wine in unlimited quantities! You buy a carafe that has been hand-painted by members of the Arillas Cultural Club in the winter, and you can refill it as often as you want. Of course there are also souvlakia, sausages and dumplings to accompany the wine (or beer if you prefer), and also home-made sweet made from grapes.

This is one of Arillas’ most popular festivals, many people plan their holidays so they can be here in the first weekend of September!