What's on in Corfu (Kerkyra), Greece through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Greece, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Olive harvest (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)), Resorts shut for winter (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Festival

  Corfu Carnival

  5 Feb – 10 Mar · usually

  Venetian in origin and still masked: weeks of satirical street theatre in the old town, ending with the burning of the carnival king on the last Sunday before Lent. Source ↗

Still on: Olive harvest (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)), Resorts shut for winter (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Spring flowers and orchids

  10 Mar – 30 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The island is the greenest in the Ionian and the olive terraces come up thick with orchids and asphodel before the summer burns it all off. The Corfu Trail is at its best now. Source ↗

Still on: Corfu Carnival (5 Feb – 10 Mar (usually)), Resorts shut for winter (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Peak crowds — Corfu Easter, Easter holidays (Orthodox) in Greece

• Holiday

  Corfu Easter

  6–13 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  The most Venetian Easter in Greece: philharmonic bands in the streets all week, then at eleven on Holy Saturday morning the old town throws clay pots of water off its balconies. Source ↗

• Opening

  Island season opens

  15 Apr – 20 May · usuallySummer season opens

  Resorts, charter flights and the Paleokastritsa boats restart around Easter, and the island is at its greenest for the six weeks before the heat arrives. Source ↗

Still on: Spring flowers and orchids (10 Mar – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Cruise days in the old town, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Cricket on the Spianada

  1 May – 15 Sep · usuallyMajor festival

  A leftover of British rule that never went away: club matches on the ground beside the esplanade through the summer, watched from the arcade cafes by people who are mainly there for the coffee. Source ↗

• Season

  Cruise days in the old town

  1 May – 15 Oct · usuallyCruise seasonCrowded

  Ships tie up a ten-minute walk from the Liston and the Spianada, so the old town runs on ship hours: heaving from ten to four, and the town's own again by early evening. Source ↗

Still on: Corfu Easter (6–13 Apr), Island season opens (15 Apr – 20 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Cruise days in the old town, Summer holidays in Greece

• Season

  Sea warm enough to swim

  10 Jun – 20 Oct · usually

  The Ionian is calmer and clearer than the Aegean because the meltemi does not reach it, and the west-coast bays stay swimmable into the second half of October.

Still on: Cricket on the Spianada (1 May – 15 Sep (usually)), Cruise days in the old town (1 May – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Cruise days in the old town, Summer holidays in Greece

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Cricket on the Spianada (1 May – 15 Sep (usually)), Cruise days in the old town (1 May – 15 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 20 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Cruise days in the old town, August peak

• Holiday

  August peak

  1–28 AugSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Italians and mainland Greeks both take August here, so ferries from Igoumenitsa run full, the north-east coast roads jam and villa prices roughly double for the month. Source ↗

• Festival

  Saint Spyridon litany

  11 AugMajor festivalCrowded

  One of the four days a year the saint's body is carried through the old town, with every philharmonic band on the island behind it. The 11 August one marks a lifted siege. Source ↗

Still on: Cricket on the Spianada (1 May – 15 Sep (usually)), Cruise days in the old town (1 May – 15 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 20 Oct (usually))

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, Cruise days in the old town

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Cricket on the Spianada (1 May – 15 Sep (usually)), Cruise days in the old town (1 May – 15 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 20 Oct (usually))

Busy — Cruise days in the old town, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Cruise days in the old town (1 May – 15 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 20 Oct (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Nature

  Olive harvest

  1 Nov – 28 Feb · usually

  Nets go down under four million trees, most of them planted under the Venetians and never pruned, and the presses in the villages run through the winter. Source ↗

• Closure

  Resorts shut for winter

  1 Nov – 31 Mar

  Outside Corfu Town almost everything closes for the winter, the charter flights stop and the coast roads are empty. The town itself is a working Venetian city year round. Source ↗

Busy — Christmas holidays in Greece, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Olive harvest (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually)), Resorts shut for winter (1 Nov – 31 Mar)