What's on in Thessaloniki, Greece through the year

Peak crowds — Christmas and New Year, Christmas holidays in Greece

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: The vardaris (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually)), Christmas and New Year (5 Dec – 6 Jan)

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

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: The vardaris (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually))

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

• Festival

  Documentary Festival

  1–20 Mar · usuallyFilm festival

  Ten days of documentary screened in the converted warehouses on the port in early March, the city's other film festival and the one that fills its cafes with argument. Source ↗

Still on: The vardaris (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually))

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

• Holiday

  Orthodox Easter

  10–13 AprEaster & Holy WeekClosures

  The city empties towards the villages and Halkidiki for the week and much of the centre closes. The Friday epitaphios processions from the Byzantine churches are the thing to stay for. Source ↗

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Orthodox Easter (10–13 Apr)

Busy — Summer holidays in Greece, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

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

• Hazard

  Heat over the gulf

  1 Jul – 25 AugExtreme heat

  A closed gulf and a city of concrete make July and August heavy rather than merely hot, and the still nights are the hard part. The waterfront and Ano Poli are where any breeze is. Source ↗

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

• Season

  The city leaves for Halkidiki

  1–25 AugSchool holidaysClosures

  Thessalonikis have a coast an hour away and they use it. Half the good tavernas and bars shut for a fortnight around 15 August and the roads out on Friday afternoons are solid.

Still on: Heat over the gulf (1 Jul – 25 Aug)

Busy — Summer holidays in Greece, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Busy — Thessaloniki Film Festival, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Dimitria and the city's saint

  1–31 OctMajor festival

  A month of concerts and theatre across the city, closing on the feast of Agios Dimitrios on 26 October. Two days later the Ochi Day military parade shuts the waterfront. Source ↗

• Festival

  Thessaloniki Film Festival

  28 Oct – 15 Nov · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  The biggest film festival in south-east Europe, ten days at the start of November in the port warehouses and the old cinemas on Aristotelous. Hotel rooms tighten around it. Source ↗

Busy — Thessaloniki Film Festival, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  The vardaris

  15 Nov – 15 Mar · usuallyWind seasonRisk

  A cold north wind funnels down the Axios valley into the gulf in winter, clears the air and takes several degrees off whatever the thermometer says on the waterfront.

Still on: Thessaloniki Film Festival (28 Oct – 15 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Christmas and New Year, Christmas holidays in Greece

• Holiday

  Christmas and New Year

  5 Dec – 6 JanChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Lights and a market along Aristotelous down to the sea, and a city that treats the holidays as an excuse to be out. Nearly everything closes on the 25th, 26th and 1st. Source ↗

Still on: The vardaris (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually))