It’s Carnival Season
It’s March, my favourite time of the year, kicking off on 1st March with Saint Davids Day, a national holiday in Wales, and its any excuse to have a day of feast with everyone dressing up with the Welsh national symbols; Leaks and Daffodils, hmm! Of course our huge contingency of ex-pats in Cyprus are always happy to celebrate with them, so under normal circumstances loads of pubs and restaurants would host the parties. The highlight of the month is the plans to open our tourist season on 1st and our hospitality industry on Tuesday 16th …
Rio Style
It’s Carnival Season starting on Friday 12th March and culminating with Green Monday on the 15th March, yet another excuse for a feast. There would normally be Rio Style Carnival parades on Sunday 14th … sadly this year they have been cancelled but I’m hearing there will be some alternative ways to celebrate it in the big cities so follow us on our facebook page for the latest info.
Spring
Whatever you do don’t blink, coz it’s spring in Cyprus, but its only a few weeks and by the end of the month it’ll be summer, with temperatures already above 20°C in February, allowing us to top up the tan and even grab a swim in the sea … you can just sense spring is in the air, the blossoms are out, the aromas everywhere and everything is still sooooo green, the days are getting longer and warmer, I can almost spread my butter in the morning, and ho hum, here comes Summer! … I just love Cyprus!!!
Green Cyprus
We’ve had such a mild winter so far so expect a little more rain?, but we need the rain, and it won’t be long now before we won’t see rain again ‘til October, bring it on I say!!! … So, as I was saying it’s green everywhere, all the citrus trees are blossoming, flowers galore, the mixtures of aromas are just delectable, even better there’s still fresh wild asparagus in season, and strawberries culminating with the Strawberry festival in Dherynia every other year …
Fasting
It’s the Greek Orthodox start of lent, it’s Carnival, or originally Carnivore season, which of course means our nationals start to fast, with ‘no meat’ for 49 days, or until Easter, starting on Green, or actually, Clean Monday aka Kathari Theftera on 15th March … no chance here, I like my meat too much!
Green Monday
To celebrate, the Cypriots all go out to the fields to light their BBQ’s with family and friends, on the menu; fresh fish, sea food, lots of fresh salads, fresh and dried fruit, nuts and in fact, anything you can think of, that’s not meat. The theme is fancy dress, they all get face painted, and fly kites and stuff, and btw don’t worry if you’ve not been invited, just go for a walk in any field and you’ll probably get asked to join in, you know Cypriot hospitality n’all …
Any Shopaholics out there?
With all this who can open, who can’t open palava, where for some crazy reason clothing stores could not open, so you couldn’t buy a baby some clothing, crazy world we live in … I would have thought that was essential?? … Anyway as we come out of that strict lockdown from 1st and more on 8th March, you should still catch a few of the February Sales, crazy, coz some of them started in January this year? so you’d better hurry and get out and find some bargains. It’s a good time to buy that last winter warmer, still needed at night in March and maybe April Leading the way in Fashion are London Clothing Company, with shops all over Cyprus and many a ladies favourite Y2K in Ayia Napa.
Winter Warmers
I love this time of the year, especially taking invigorating walks along stormy coastlines, and on those chilly winter nights, most bars, cafes and restaurants have homely, warming, open wood fires, or those tall gas heaters. Some have wicked DJ’s, mixing to mostly locals and a few tourists and our ever increasing long stayers … others put on a bit of live music like O’Neill’s Irish Bar in Paphos and Rock Tepee and The Rialto Theatre in Limassol, the original Savino Live in Larnaca, oh and leading the way on the east coast Koursaros Rock Bar in Protaras, who all normally have regular gigs throughout the winter …
Versatile
It’s spring, but there’s so much to do if you look around, tbh, Cyprus is so versatile, you’ll probably still be able to ski and snowboard and even go Husky Sledding up in the Troodos Mountains in the morning and swim in the med in the afternoon, and the air is really clear, so you’ll still be able to go Star Shaped get a fab tan! It’s a great time to go touring and there’s plenty to see. The Troodos mountains are in their element at this time of the year and currently covered in snow!
Changes
I have to say I can’t remember a winter like this … as we drive around I can see many changes happening, it’s exciting, places being knocked down, rebuilt, extra floors for more rooms, new fascia, new lights and sound systems, new bars and a few up for sale and some changing hands, and I hear one or two new beach bars and clubs opening … things are looking good for Cyprus favoured it seems this year by many Europeans.
Clubbing News
We’re hearing some huge names being booked for this season to make up for last year and if the rumours I’m getting are true, we might be clubbing outdoors more, im waiting for news from Mario at BCL … Ayia Napa as always leading the club scene … Black ‘N’ White will probably open first, normally having their soft opening by now, Carwash Disco still the best night out in Napa is hoping to open in April and then Castle Club, probably the best club in Cyprus, the awesome Club Ice, the only after party Club Aqua will provide somewhere to go til sunrise and then there’s Ammos in Larnaca, Guaba Beach Bar in Limassol, Zoo Club in Nicosia and Vibes Club in Paphos, all smashing it these days
Beaches
We now boast several of the top 25 best beaches in Europe and guess what you can enjoy them in over 330 days sunshine a year because I think we also have the best climate in the world and we’re one of the safest places to live in the world, that’s why we all live here, and well, we’ve got good reason to love it, oh, and btw they’ve been partying here since the Gods invented party some 12,600 years ago! For more culture follow this link
Social Network
Our 15,000 plus followers of What’s On Cyprus, include over 13,000 on Facebook, everyone’s talking about us, with our daily post engagement of up to 5,000 people a day, commenting, liking and sharing our stuff … oh, you can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, oh and please tag and share if you care … hmm 7 of the world’s top social media Apps all linked together … tbh, It’s Everything you need to know and … More!
Finally
If it’s your first time here, what took you so long?, and if you’ve been here before, welcome back!, I’ll let you into a little secret, one day you’ll probably move here, if you’re not already living here … oh, and as always if I can give you one tip … “make sure you do at least one thing you’ve never done before”!
Na da Boumen!
Tony Dynamou
Cover Image by Photo Stoo, Daffodils at Pixabay.com
