Greece’s Carnival season, known as “Apokries”, is the festive season preceding Lent, a period of masquerading, eating, drinking and dancing, which reaches its peak with extravagant parades of giant floats and colorful street groups. Traditionally, it begins ten weeks before Greek Orthodox Easter and culminates on the weekend before “Clean Monday,” (Ash Monday) the first day of Lent. “Apokria”, literally means “goodbye” to the period of meat-eating, or abstinence from meat (Apo-kreo, meaning away from meat).
