A message of rebirth and hope aims to send this year’s father’s carnival, who is keen to return after two years of postponements and restrictions due to the pandemic.

Thousands of carnival visitors can’t wait to unleash and present their imagination, their artistic spirit, their ingenuity as well as their creative passion, while Patras again awaits its many visitors.

After all, organizing a carnival has always given the city and local businesses a lot of financial support. In fact, as Mayor Kostas Peletidis estimates, “this year, as everything shows, will be a year of high attendance, and hotels will be filled, as the city has risen to the level, and economic and professional activity will be more than in 2019, that is in the last year of the carnival.

For its part, the association of catering and leisure professionals estimates that “attendance during the last three days of the carnival this year will be one of the highest”, while emphasizing that “all participants must guard the establishment in order to get the best result.”

A big restart to return to carnival normality, which came to an abrupt halt at the end of February 2020, will take place on Saturday with the opening ceremony.

Promotions will start at 10 am with two musical floats as well as promotions that send a joyful message of hope. After that, the carnival banner will be handed over to the mayor of the city, and the event will end with the established custom of a chocolate fight.

The carnival date will be moved to Georgiou Square at 21.00 pm, where the opening ceremony will take place. The main event of the ceremony is the idea and embodiment of the choreographer Spyros Kouvaras, who promotes the revival as a central idea. That is, the revival of nature and culture, the activation of hope, imagination and feelings. Spyros Kouvaras, drawing inspiration from the environment and the elements of nature, will create a “fantasy garden” on stage.

At the same time, the choreographer and his team are expected to present a mixed spectacle of movement, image and sound, which will include ground and air dancers.

The second part of the opening ceremony will include a colorful carnival celebration dominated by music. However, the opening ceremony couldn’t miss the historic Hidden Treasure game, which turns 58 this year and is called What Time Brings.

Immediately after this, thousands of carnivalists will take over the baton, where until the end of the carnival, on February 26, they will present their unique creations, paint the city in a unique way with their costumes and sow joy and fun.