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On the island of Skyros, the last weekend of Carnival is highlighted by the Koudounati, a unique Greek carnival custom. The Koudounati are a group of three people, one dressed as an old man, another as a young woman, and the third as a Frank. With bells tied to their waists, they can be heard throughout the village as they move rhythmically along the main road and the square of the island’s capital, Chora.
The custom of “Trata” is also celebrated at midday on the last Sunday of the Carnival. The denizens (mainly fishermen) of the island, indulge in a form of satire recitation, summarizing the main events of the year that passed from their personal perspectives. On the morning of Shrove Monday (beginning of Lent, a fasting period of 40 days before Easter) and at the Central Square of Skyros, the municipality offers sarakostiana dishes (special food for fasting these particular 40 days), such as the lagana, tarama, bulbs in vinegar, the m’sokourfa, fava bean, kolokythopites, teroptaria, mushrooms, pickle, snails, xerotigana, marmarites, ladopita with xinotiri and an abundance of seafood. All these dishes are accompanied by wine and tsipouro in lavish quantities.
