Celebrating the sweetness of figs

The Americans may have their proms where high-school students can be crowned king and queen but we have our village festivals where Mr and Mrs something or other can be crowned – depending on the theme of the festival.

A very popular one is the Strawberry festival in Deryneia and the Watermelon festival in Frenaros. Now the crowning of Mr and Mrs Strawberry and Watermelon may not take place anymore but the liveliness of such festivals still remains. And at a time of the year when a plate of figs is sitting on nearly every kitchen table, wouldn’t it be perfect if there was a fig festival?

Well, the Cyprus Traditional Products Centre together with the Kato Pyrgos Community Council and the Tilliria youth club are organising the first two-day Fig Festival starting on Friday in Kato Pyrgos.

The first ever Fig Festival will kick off at 7.30pm with the opening of an exhibition of traditional products. There will be an official opening at 8pm followed by traditional Cypriot dances by the Kato Pyrgos Tilliria dance group. Then traditional singing will get underway at 9pm with Michalis Hadjimichael and Vasiliki Hadjiadamou. Hadjimichael plays traditional Cypriot music and also does some singing, while Hadjiadamou – who is also a television presenter – joins in with her melodic voice.

Saturday also gets us into a traditional mood with Cypriot dancing again at 8pm, followed by music by the Greek singer Triantafilos and his band.

Fig Festival
Two-day festival with traditional dancing, music and more. August 12-13. Kato Pyrgos, Nicosia. 7.30pm-12am. Free. Tel: 99-623494

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