Christmas & New Year on Hydra Island
The Christmas, New Year and Winter in General on Hydra
What's open and where to celebrate: The festive season on Hydra Island, Greece is a local community affair but of course, it's still a great time to visit the island. There are a reasonable number of hotels, pensions and private houses to rent for your accommodation and those restaurants and bars that open are busy and popular places to have fun for your Christmas lunch and New Year's Eve party. Even though I have known all varieties of weather during the holiday, the majority of years have seen temperatures around 15 degrees with blue sky and no rain, so taking advantage of the crisp clear air to go hiking, horse trekking or for a leisurely walk is a delight.
Unlike so much of the rest of the world, in Hydra, Christmas and New Year's Eve is more about spending time with family and friends than a commercial shopping binge. On Hydra, we seem to get back to what is most important about the meaning of Christmas. It's a religious celebration observed with Greek Orthodox church services, and a time when children still make gifts for their parents, a time when the locals who can relax during the 'off-season' can spend time with each other, share news and meals and generally 'look after each other'. For me, it is one of my favourite times of the year with the emphasis on people not what you can buy!
Each year, the wonderful team of Elves, led by Sotiris Iliadis and Angeliki Stroumbouli, directors of Υδραγωγής (Ydragogis) the charitable side of the Hydra Language School, host Hydra's very own Father Christmas in town.
The Municipality of Hydra decorate the harbour and the lights are normally switched on at the end of November. The Municipality also arrange a visit by Santa and activities for children in the run up to Christmas Day.
Christmas Day
Christmas Day is heralded by the sound of all the church bells on Hydra. Services are held at all the main churches. If the weather is sunny families and friends congregate in the morning at the cafes on the harbour before heading home or to a restaurant for lunch. The Greek Christmas lunch tends to be 'just another day' and there are very few seasonal specialities. But the large ex-pat community of Hydra, especially the Northern Europeans, are helped by the local supermarkets to buy in traditional Christmas fare such as Panatone, chocolates and even Brussels Sprouts!
When I first moved to Hydra in 2000, there was hardly a bauble in sight. But now, 2018, the homes of Greeks especially those with children, all twinkle with lights and decorations. It's very pretty when you look up the hills from the port.
New Year's Eve
As with Christmas Day, since 2000, New Year's Eve has been influenced by Northern European traditions. So you will find many more parties but after midnight. Greek families celebrate together, some going to midnight mass then returning home to cut their traditional New Year Cake and to play board and card games together. By 1am, those bars in the town that are open start to fill with party goers who dance until dawn.
