Cyprus keeps a full calendar all year, and it rewards a bit of planning. Village harvest festivals, open-air opera below a medieval castle, seafront marathons in mild winter sunshine and a carnival that shuts down half of Limassol — most of it is free, and much of it sits within an easy drive of the coast.
Use the filters to find what is happening while you are here. Dates run to the end of 2027, and past events from 2026 are kept on the page so you can see what a given month usually looks like.
63 events
Grand Parade from 13:00 on 22 February
Ten days of costume, colour and street parties, opening on Tsiknopempti and building to the Grand Parade along Makariou Avenue on 22 February. Limassol throws the island's biggest carnival, and dressing up is very much encouraged.
The 51st running of the island's classic road rally, with special stages threading through Troodos villages. Spectating is free if you pick a viewpoint and get there early.
The start of Lent and a proper day out: families head to the countryside with lenten picnics and kites fill the sky. Banks, schools and public offices close.
A point-to-point coastal marathon that starts at Aphrodite's legendary birthplace and finishes beside the medieval fort. Cool March air and a gently downhill profile make it a favourite for personal bests.
Parades and school celebrations mark the 1821 Greek revolution. Expect flags, brass bands and a public holiday closure.
Commemorates the start of the 1955 liberation struggle, marked with wreath-laying and memorial services across the island.
Processions usually begin around 21:00
The most atmospheric evening of the Cypriot year: flower-decked Epitaphios biers are carried through the streets after dark, followed by the whole village. Visitors are welcome to watch respectfully.
The long weekend that closes Holy Week. Tavernas fill with slow-roast lamb and flaounes, and most businesses stay shut through Easter Tuesday.
A national holiday with marches in the larger towns. Beaches and countryside tavernas do brisk business.
Doors from 16:00
The 15th edition of a much-loved local celebration of the Famagusta district's strawberry harvest, with cookery demonstrations, dessert contests and live music. Entry is free.
Cyprus celebrates Pentecost with a seaside festival found nowhere else in the Orthodox world: water fights, boat races, diving for the cross and stalls along the harbour. Protaras and Paralimni run their own concerts across the same weekend.
Holy Spirit Monday closes the Kataklysmos weekend and gives the island one of its few early-summer long weekends.
A run-swim-run race on the east coast: 2.5 km on foot, a kilometre in open water, then 2.5 km home. Open to federation athletes and first-timers alike.
Liopetri's sixth carrot festival turns a humble root vegetable into a full evening of tastings, cookery and live entertainment. It is exactly as cheerful as it sounds.
A village festival in the churchyard, now in its 13th year, with folk dancing, traditional food and the kind of unhurried evening that shows the Famagusta district at its best.
Avgorou honours the red-soil potato that made the region's name, with farmers, chefs and musicians filling the village for one big open-air night.
The island's most adventurous music festival: three days, six stages and around sixty acts spanning Cypriot roots music, European indie and late-night electronica. Camping on site, and a genuinely mixed-age crowd.
Six concerts spread across the municipality, from Greek art song and Cypriot traditional music to saxophone sets, including an evening marking a century since the birth of poet Pieris Pierettis. Five of the six are free.
One of the biggest religious dates in the calendar, with village panigyria and church fairs. A public holiday, and the busiest weekend of the Cypriot summer.
Three evenings given over to the food that predates the resorts — village breads, preserves, halloumi and slow-cooked dishes, with folk music alongside.
Official details for Ayia Napa Traditional Flavours Festival
Concerts from 20:30
Two open-air evenings in the old town square, mixing Cypriot players with visiting quartets across ragtime, salsa and straight-ahead jazz. Free to attend.
Performances at 19:30
Grand opera staged outdoors against the medieval fort and the sea. The 24th edition brings Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, performed by the Armenian National Opera with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.
Now in its 46th year, Sotira's festival celebrates kolokasi, the taro root that has anchored local cooking for centuries. Come hungry: the tastings are the main event.
Three days of food trucks, live music and DJs, with the proceeds going to local charities. Family-friendly and reliably busy.
A relaxed weekend of live music, workshops and shared activities in the city garden, built around the idea of simply spending time together.
From 18:00
Grape-harvest season in the hills above Limassol, celebrated with freshly made palouze handed out free in the village square. Live music, and a good excuse to drive up into the wine country.
Tickets from EUR 10 online
Two days of independent hip-hop, rap and production in the heart of the capital, showcasing the artists driving Cyprus's fast-growing urban scene.
From 15:00
Start with a walk into the vineyards and a hand in the harvest, then head back to the square for grape-stomping, zivania distilling and folk dancing. One of the most hands-on days in the calendar.
The island's first large-scale dog festival: shows, training talks, an adoption zone and more than fifty exhibitors. Bring the dog.
Anogyra has been making carob pasteli by hand for generations, and this festival puts the whole process on display alongside a village-wide celebration of the carob harvest.
The 42nd edition of Ayia Napa's flagship cultural festival, timed to World Tourism Day. Three days of concerts, folk dance troupes from across Europe, theatre and craft stalls around the medieval monastery.
18:00 to midnight; tastings 18:30-22:00; adults EUR 5
Nine evenings among the trees of the seafront gardens, pouring everything from crisp xynisteri to Commandaria. Running since 1961, this is the island's oldest festival and still its most sociable.
Marks independence from British rule in 1960, with a military parade in Nicosia and celebrations across the island.
Evening parades from around 19:00
For five days the town centre becomes a medieval street theatre: knights, stilt-walkers, flag-throwers and drummers from across Europe, with a nightly torchlit parade. The best free family event of the autumn.
Student and military parades commemorate Greece's 1940 refusal of Axis ultimatum. A public holiday across the Republic.
Races start from 07:00; expo 12-14 November
A flat, fast seafront course past the salt lake, where the flamingos are usually back by November. Seven races on the day, from the full marathon down to a one-kilometre family run.
Official details for Radisson Blu Larnaka International Marathon
Four consecutive days of running across road, trail and cross-country, much of it inside the Akamas nature reserve. Distances from 6 km upwards, and open to all abilities.
Official details for Leptos Cyprus International 4-Day Challenge
Cyprus keeps Christmas on 25 December, with carol singers doing the rounds from Christmas Eve. Resorts stay open but many village businesses close for the week.
The second day of Christmas and a public holiday. A good day for a coastal walk while everything is quiet.
Saint Basil's Day in the Orthodox calendar, when the vasilopita is cut and the lucky coin found. A national holiday.
The blessing of the waters, when swimmers dive into winter seas at Larnaca, Paphos and Ayia Napa harbours to retrieve the cross. Cold, brief and genuinely stirring.
Marathon start 06:00 on Sunday
The 29th edition of the coastal classic, again running from Aphrodite's Rock into Paphos harbour. Marathon, half, 10K and a 5K fun run over the weekend.
Carnival follows the Orthodox calendar, so 2027 falls in March. Expect the same ten days of parades, serenades and costume, closing with the Grand Parade on the Sunday before Green Monday.
Lent begins, and the whole island decamps to the countryside with lenten spreads and kites. Banks and public offices close.
Parades and commemorations for the 1821 revolution, observed as a public holiday.
A national holiday marking the beginning of the 1955 liberation struggle.
Half marathon starts 07:25 on Sunday
The largest sporting event on the island, certified by World Athletics and built around a flat coastal course that peaks at just 18 metres. Six races across the weekend, from the full marathon to a kids' kilometre.
Processions usually begin around 21:00
Epitaphios processions wind through every town and village after dark. Orthodox Easter falls late in 2027, so Holy Week runs into May.
A national holiday, falling on a Saturday in 2027 and running straight into the Orthodox Easter weekend.
The close of Holy Week, and the biggest family weekend of the Cypriot year. Book tavernas well ahead.
The Pentecost seaside festival returns to the harbours of Ayia Napa, Protaras and Larnaca, with water games, boat races and concerts across the long weekend.
Holy Spirit Monday, a public holiday closing the Kataklysmos weekend.
The 15th edition of the island's flagship independent music festival is expected in late summer, with the line-up usually announced in June.
Village fairs and church festivals across the island on the busiest holiday of the summer.
The 25th anniversary edition of Cyprus's open-air opera festival is expected in early September, once again in the square below the medieval fort.
Ayia Napa's main cultural festival is held in the last week of September each year, timed to coincide with World Tourism Day.
The 66th wine festival is expected in the Municipal Gardens across the last weekend of September and the first of October.
The national day, with a military parade in Nicosia and celebrations island-wide.
The medieval festival closes the east coast's cultural calendar each October with parades, street theatre and a period market.
Parades and commemorations, observed as a public holiday across the Republic.
Larnaca's seafront marathon is held on a Sunday in mid-November, with seven races and a flat course past the salt lake.
Official details for Radisson Blu Larnaka International Marathon
Christmas Day, a public holiday, falling on a Saturday in 2027.
The second day of Christmas and a public holiday.
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Dates are gathered from organisers and municipal programmes and can change. Where an event runs to a fixed annual pattern but the exact 2027 dates have not been published yet, it is marked as such. Please confirm with the organiser before booking travel around any single event.
