Naxos Island Local Customs

The "Ayios Nikodimos" festival is the biggest celebration in Naxos island and it is dedicated to Saint Nikodimos who was born in Naxos. The festival takes place on the 14th of July every year and it starts at the big church which has his name. Priests are taking his icon all around the city and the people are following, when the icon is back to the church the sky gets full of fireworks and the port road gets packed from people. This is something you must see if you are in Naxos at this time of the year.

Can cactus produce "tuna"? yes, it can, if cactus is called opuntia aka prickly pear.

There are plenty of those "pears" or "grapes" (opuntia is translated as "French grape" from Greek as it is believed to be brought to Greece by French) on islands. you should definitely try this exotic fruit called "tuna," which tastes like forest berries.

but pick it up and peel it extremely carefully if you don't want small spines (ouch) to get into your fingers, not talking about your throat and lips.

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The first of May is celebrated on Naxos Island by hanging beautifully created fresh flower wreaths on the door or front of the houses. I saw some made from just lavender and that was lovely blue/purple. But many were multi colored.
Families would go out all together and have a meal of goat stew and other Greek delicacies. Some of the photos show you gatherings like this in a tavern.
The people of Naxos were also telling us about putting their donkeys on top of the roofs during the evening but I wonder if they were joking as I did not see one instance of this.
Traditional music and dancing also abound on this day and everyone just celebrates.

Since Naxos is an island, it's only natural that seafood would make up a substantial part of the local diet. When walking around Naxos Town looking for a place to eat it is very common to see fresh octopus hanging out to dry in the Sun. It is served simply by grilling it and putting it on a plate - nothing fancy at all. I have to admit I never tried it because I loved the traditional Greek cuisine so much. Maybe on my next trip : )

Except tourism , the second occupation of the local people is agriculture. There are many local products such as goat meat, potatoes, tomatoes, fruits and some of the most famous varieties of cheese (graviera, kefalotiri, anthotiro). And liquer "Kitron" a sweet aperitif which is made from the fruit Kitron ( a fryit close to lemon).

It is very common to see octopuses hanging in the sun just outside restaurants.
They are then grilled on demand!

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You wont notice that in Athens, but as soon as u ll be in islands you gonna see how lovely are the buildings with blue doors, window frames and roofs!