Corfiot Easter 2012 - a video compilation

   Ι made this compilation of videos that I found on the net to show to the world how special is our Easter festivities and traditions.

   The first video shows the traditional easter carrols performed by the Mantzaros Philharmonic Society on Easter Monday:



   The epitaph (funeral procession) of Saint George's church in the Old Fortress:



   The Philharmonic Society of Corfu performing the famous Albinoni's Adagio at the epitaph of the Cathedral (Mitrópoli):



   At the epitaph of Saint Spyridon which takes place on Easter Saturday morning, the Kapodistrias Philarmonic Union performs the funeral march from Beethoven's Third Symphony (Heroica) while the Philharmonic Society of Corfu performs Franco Faccio's "Hamlet":





   The so called "First Resurrection" takes place at 11 a.m. with the throwing of clay pots ("mpotides") from the windows: 



   Also at the very same moment, another custom takes place: that of "Mastela". A guy dives into a barrel of water which is full of coins thrown by passerbys and he collects them:



   At 12 p.m., the Philharmonic Society of Corfu gave a marching show attended by hundreds of spectators:



  At midnight, after the Resurrection an amazing fireworks show brightens the skies. Afterwards, the bands parade in the streets of old town playing the "Graikoi" march and giving shows by their percussion teams:







   The procession of Resurrection of "Panaya ton Ksenon" church on Easter Sunday morning: 




  The Philharmonic Society "Mantzaros" performing Kritikos "Marcia Trionfale" at the procession of Resurrection of Saint Spyridon:


 


   - Read more about what is happening during the Holy Week in Corfu here: http://johncorfuworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter-in-corfu.html

Watch Good Friday's funeral processions live wherever you are

   Tomorrow, Good Friday, from early in the evening until late at night, you can watch the live stream of the funeral processions that pass outside the Philharmonic Society of Corfu building. Click on the following link to connect:

http://www.livestream.com/OfficialFEK

   Also here is the link of tonight's general audition of the funeral marches that the Philharmonic Society of Corfu will perform tomorrow and on Holy Saturday.
The pieces performed are the following:

• Dimitrios Kafiris "O Pónos tis Manas"
• Tomasso Albinoni "Adagio"
• Franco Faccio "Hamlet" 

OfficialFEK on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

HAPPY GREEK ORTHODOX EASTER TO ALL OF YOU!

Some videos from Corfu's Easter 2011 festivities

  Corfu Easter is famous all around Greece. It's colorfull and unique, there are bands playing everywhere and lots of things going on around town. I searched the net and I found for you a bunch of videos from this year's festivities. I invite you to experience our Easter yourself and become a part of them.


Good Friday - Pantokratoras epitaph procession





Good Friday - Mitropoleos epitaph procession: Philharmonic Society of Corfu playing Albinoni's "Adagio"








Good Saturday morning - Procession of St. Spyridon: Philharmonic Society of Corfu playing Fr. Faccio's "Hamlet"





Good Saturday morning - The first Ressurection and the throwing of the clay pots.








Drum players from the Philharmonic Society of Corfu performing  I. Thimis' "Xoano", moments after the first Ressurection




Easter Sunday - moments before midnight: the Ressurection mass and the firework show at Esplanade





More about Easter in Corfu on this blog:
- Easter in Corfu, what to see and do: http://johncorfuworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter-in-corfu.html
- Easter 2010 - a photographic coverage: http://johncorfuworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/corfu-easter-2010-photos.html
- Easter 2008 - more photos: http://johncorfuworld.blogspot.com/2008/04/corfu-easter-2008-brief-photo-essay.html

Palm Sunday's procession around old Corfu Town

Every Palm Sunday there is a big procession going on around the perimetre of old Corfu Town. We celebrate Jesus' triumpant entry in Jerusalem, as well as St. Spyridon's miracle which saved corfiots from the deadly plague of 1629. This is the island's biggest procession in length and in numbers. The litany starts from the Kofineta square and roughly follows the old walls which protected the town from the enemy.
Here there are three short videos from yesterday's procession.







A video from CorfuPress.com covering all of the procession:

Λιτανεία Κυριακής των Βαΐων (17-4-2011), Κέρκυρα by jvnadr

Τhoughts on the corfiot Easter funeral marches

  A very interesting video about the funeral marches which could be heard in Corfu during Holy week. This documentary sound archive from a 21 year-old E.R.A. (Greek National Radio service) emission, examines the nature of this music tradition, unique in Greece and maybe in the whole world. In the video, some famous funeral marches could be heard, like "Hamlet", Beethoven's funeral march from "3rd Symphony", "Caldae Lacrimae" and the famous Albinoni's "Adagio". 
  Unfortunately, the video is in greek, but those who can't understand the language will sure appreciate the pictures and the music.



  Easter in Corfu is unique, colourful and very traditional. Why don't you consider spending Easter in our blossomed island? From late March, there will be plenty of cheap Easyjet flights from England and back.