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Another Summer, another Stavros Panighiri. This festival seems to mark the height of summer on Ithaca with people coming to Stavros from all over Greece and the world. It's a 2 day festival, in celebration of Sortiros. The Stavros Panighiri is undoubtedly the biggest summer festival on the island and it's always been alot of fun. The Panighiri band Mnistires was in great form. They had the dance floor full from beginning to end. I believe the music stopped around 5.30am on the first night. The great thing about a Panighiri is that it unites people in dance. Whether you know the steps or not, there is no judgment, just a dancing circle of Greek love.
Again, there was no police presence that I noticed on the first night, but on the second, we did have a couple of officers at the edge of town. Looks like the budget cuts have kept them at home or at least out of uniform last night. I also noted that there weren't any speeches, as per other years. The economy also effected the food this year. Only souvlaki, no pork on the spit, no chicken. Many people opted to eat at home before coming out. The economic crisis has nibbled away at quite alot of what can be spent. It didn't really matter, none of these things had any impact on the velocity of fun that was had. Another successful panighiri for Stavros.