Possibly the best food fight ever: The flour wars in Galaxidi, Greece

by Shayna Glick, Posted Aug 23rd 2008 @ 12:01PM

Hard to describe iamge of two people throwing flour at each other, with flour flying all over the place.

There are definitely some odd (to those on the outside) rituals that have developed throughout the world. There's one ritual in Galaxidi, Greece that really takes the cake, or perhaps could make the cake.

In that Greek town, to celebrate the end of Carnival and the beginning of Lent, the citizens get together for a giant flour fight. According to Spiegel, the villagers go through roughly 3000 pounds of flour, and each one dyes his or her lot. The historic buildings are all covered in tarps, and by the end of the day the town is "covered in sticky, brightly colored flour." Goggles, windbreakers, and face masks are all popular apparel choices, and a lot of people take a dip in the ocean afterwards to clean off a bit before an evening of tavern-hopping.

This actually sounds like a lot of fun. I wouldn't be up for running with the bulls, but I would definitely throw some flour around. The tradition started at the beginning of the 19th century, but no one is really sure why except it had something to do with rebelling against the Turks (who were in charge at the time). Whatever the reason, this is my kind of party. What are some odd community traditions that you know about?

[via Coldmud]

Filed Under: Newspapers
Tags: europe, Flour fight, FlourFight, Galaxidi, Greece, Spiegel, tradition

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-23-2008 @12:43PM lizandrsn said... How do you suppose they dye the dry flour?
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8-23-2008 @5:09PM Yongho Shin said... @lizandrsn: Wouldn't just some food coloring do?
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8-24-2008 @10:51AM Bill said... Don't these people know there is a shortage of flour in the world, seems like an irresponsible thing to do to me.
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