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The pre-Lenten carnival period in Sofades is celebrated with games, a parade with floats, high spirits – and good food! On Tsiknopempti (‘the Thursday of Grilled Meat’), a treasure hunt takes place. A parade on Sunday is followed by a huge celebration. The municipality provides meals of lamb with bulgur wheat. Tsiknopempti is celebrated 11 days before Clean Monday (which marks the start of the fasting period of Lent); since the week before Lent is considered meat-free (but not dairy-free), and Wednesday and Friday are generally considered days of fasting in the Greek-Orthodox Christian tradition, this makes Tsiknopempti one of the last opportunities for people to eat meat, so this has traditionally led to the day acquiring a special festive character. Greeks celebrate by taking to the streets and consuming large quantities of grilled meat. Many local town councils set up grills in central squares with music and festivities. At the feast in Karditsa, other special dishes to try are the galatopita, the karditsiotiko plasto, the batzina, village sausages and spinach pies, as well as the papia kavourma,a very old traditional, and tasty, dish of Karditsa.
