Carnival: Tzamales Tradition in Ioannina city.

The Sunday of the Carnival is the last day of the traditional carnival in Greece. The night of Sunday are getting quite and a melancholy is in the air. Two weeks of carnival have ended and we are now ready to pass to the new period of The Greek Orthodox Easter when people stop all the entertainment and start the fasting of the easter. This happen in every place in Greece except for Ioannina. On that day the fiesta begins for the local people.

You have to mascarade, you have to feel the good energy and show it to the ones that surround you, you have to get even more humoristic, because a lot of walking and dance is waiting for you at Tzamales fiesta. Tzamales are called the big fires that are light by the local in every neighborhood of the city. The local use these fires to cook food for all the participats. Food, Tsipouro (a greek drink) and clarinets are the three main components of this fiesta. The people gather around the big fires and dance all the night long. The city is filled with people that walk from one neighborhood to the other, to get around the fires, to drink and to dance. The mood is getting crazy as time passes and all kind of inappropriate sayings and words, came and go, between friends and aquintances.

If you happen to be in this fiesta, start from the Karavatia location, walk by the big plane tree and continue towards Loutsa location, then Lakomata location, Kaloutsiani location until you get to the Castle's fire. Drink and Dance as much as you can and definetly visit all the Tzamales of the city. For the persisting ones and those that are party animals you can visit the local bars after the end of the Tzamales.

TIP: The best time of this days is next morning when the sun sets over the lake and the city goes to sleep, after a tiring and crazy fiesta.

Have fun at the Tzamales of Ioannina.