bouráni

Bouráni soup (made of spinach and vinegar) is produced in a huge cauldron in Týrnavos for the Bouráni festival.

Throughout Greece, Clean Monday is the day to fly kites and eat seafood and lagana. In Týrnavos, however, it’s time to celebrate penises in every possible form—in phallus shaped loaves of bread, lollypops, chocolates, candles and alcohol, sold in phallus-shaped bottles.

All passers-by are dragged over to the centre of the main square where the bouráni is being made, to give it a stir and a taste it with a shot of tsípouro before kissing the giant phallus. There’s even a rocking horse penis throne to ride, with endless amounts of music, dancing, drinking, teasing and obscenities.

You could be in the warm-up ceremony for a 5th century BC Dionysian orgy, although the Bouráni festival was only first recorded in 1898. Until the Second World War, it was exclusively male, and including a lot of cross dressing; it was considered too rude for daughters, wives and mothers to seeThe prudish military Junta banned it for it a few years, but since then it’s been more popular than ever, all good-natured fun for the entire family.