When we went out for our evening walk, just before dusk, we noticed an unusual amount of activity in the village. Everyone was dressed nicely, and we could hear Greek music coming from a couple of streets above us. When we got up to where the music was coming from, we noticed that someone had set up a raised stage with about a hundred white plastic lawn chairs facing it. There were a couple of tables set up with food on them, and men hovering over an outdoor barbeque grill cooking souflaki (meat shish-kabobs).
A neighbor told us that tomorrow would be a Saints’ Day for St. John of the Fire, but that tonight the village traditionally celebrated a festival that involved feasting, dancing, and fire. His English was not too good, so we didn’t understand everything that was going on, but food was passed out to everyone, and the “Vourliotes Players” did some kind of reenactment skit in period costume. Young men and women in traditional Greek garb, did folk dances, and sang songs original to Samos. The grand finale, we were told, involves fire jumping.
Three small bond fires were built of these straw and grain sheaves that people have had hanging over their doors, then the neighborhood children lined up to start jumping over the flames. Very small children were helped or carried over the fire by their parents. (Don’t try this back home in the States) This wasn’t like some Don Ho luau they put on for the tourists. These were all local folks. When the fires began to dwindle, someone piled up more straw, squirted it with charcoal lighter fluid, and the kids went back to their jumping. The Greeks do not let themselves get too bogged down with health and safety issues when they’ve come to have a good time. As I’m typing this, I can hear people in small groups, walking through the streets, singing.
A neighbor told us that tomorrow would be a Saints’ Day for St. John of the Fire, but that tonight the village traditionally celebrated a festival that involved feasting, dancing, and fire. His English was not too good, so we didn’t understand everything that was going on, but food was passed out to everyone, and the “Vourliotes Players” did some kind of reenactment skit in period costume. Young men and women in traditional Greek garb, did folk dances, and sang songs original to Samos. The grand finale, we were told, involves fire jumping.
Three small bond fires were built of these straw and grain sheaves that people have had hanging over their doors, then the neighborhood children lined up to start jumping over the flames. Very small children were helped or carried over the fire by their parents. (Don’t try this back home in the States) This wasn’t like some Don Ho luau they put on for the tourists. These were all local folks. When the fires began to dwindle, someone piled up more straw, squirted it with charcoal lighter fluid, and the kids went back to their jumping. The Greeks do not let themselves get too bogged down with health and safety issues when they’ve come to have a good time. As I’m typing this, I can hear people in small groups, walking through the streets, singing.
Video by Skaggs
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