Crete is gearing up for its most splendid festival! Rethymno invites both young and old to revel and enjoy three full weeks of the Rethymnian Carnival events!
The big moment has arrived, and on Sunday, February 25, 2024, the first regular carnival in the post-COVID era is a reality!
From early in the afternoon at the Guora Gate to the evening, at Anastasia's grand concert at the Sand Gate - Agnostos Stratiotis Square - Rethymno opens its most colorful season of the year with imagination and fun.
**SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2024**
ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN
Games and activities by animators at the Well (Guora Gate) with music and offering sweets. Present will be our Carnival Queen Daphne Lazidou, who will actively participate in transforming our little carnival participants into princesses and will pose for photos with them.
LITTLE CARNIVAL
A "crazy Little Carnival," following the queen through the Old Town, descending from National Resistance Street, turning onto Konstantinou Palaiologou Street, crossing Arkadiou Street, and ending at the Unknown Soldier Square.
A "colorful confetti of kids" along with members from the crews of the groups, wearing the costumes with which they will parade this year, set the rhythm and vibrancy of the Rethymnian Carnival from the historic center of our city, inviting the public to the magical opening ceremony!
**19:00 ARRIVAL OF THE PROCESSION – START OF THE MAIN EVENT**
Our "little carnival" arrives at Agnostos Stratiotis Square and is welcomed by the Municipal Band of Rethymno, which once again kicks off with a program specially curated for the carnival. The Municipal Band of Rethymno, always consistent in all the city's events, takes over from the "carnival flood" of children and opens the ceremony with a wonderful 17-minute carnival music program.
Following the program's completion, this year's carnival events presenters, Lefteris Koumantakis and Christiana Skoura, welcome the audience and introduce the main program of the opening ceremony, which includes:
• **19:20** Presentation of this year's theme with a music and dance show directed, scripted, and roles adapted by Nikos Markantonis, with Costa Costantino and Nikos Mavros singing and choreography by Katerina Perpiraki and Valentina Kyriazi.
• **19:30** The Mayor of Rethymno, Mr. Georgis H. Marinakis, will declare the start of the Rethymnian Carnival 2024, followed by an impressive fireworks show.
• **19:35** Agnostos Stratiotis Square turns into the most spectacular runway where the groups of the Rethymnian Carnival present this year's costumes.
• **20:00** The big moment of the opening ceremony is the concert by the popular singer Anastasia. She takes the stage, and a big party begins, a party worthy of the grand event that will last three full weeks!
**RECYCLING ACTION: "EVERY CAN COUNTS"**
The Rethymnian Carnival 2024 sends a strong ecological message. As known, there's an 80% reduction in paper waste for the promotional materials of the events. This year, with a QR code found all over the city and on the official poster, anyone can directly access the organization's website, rethymnocarnival.gr, easily and, most importantly, without paper waste, visitors can stay updated on all event developments, group activities, and organizers' initiatives. Additionally, for another year, the Municipality of Rethymno, specifically the Culture and Environment, Circular Economy, and Quality of Life departments, in collaboration with the "Every Can Counts" recycling program and the sponsor of the Rethymnian Carnival "Athenian Brewery – ALFA beer," invites all participants in the carnival events to join the metal can recycling action.
The process is simple and particularly useful as the collected metal cans during these days will be sold, and the proceeds will go to the General Hospital of Rethymno.
Visitors to Rethymno and participants in the carnival events should know the following:
• The action applies only to metal cans from beers, soft drinks, and similar beverages.
A central collection point is on the coastal road of the old city in the special metal structure for collecting recyclable metal cans that forms the word: RETHYMNO.
•Special bins will be distributed in all the carnival float preparation warehouses.
• Special bins will also be available at various points of the carnival events.
The goal of the action is to sensitize and inform citizens about the benefits of the circular economy, setting the foundation for a more sustainable way of organizing carnival events in one of the country's largest and most historic carnivals.
