Paros Pirate Festival

The Barbarossa Pirate Festival of Paros: Every year on August 23rd, nine days after the Assumption of the Virgin, a great festival is celebrated in Naoussa, the picturesque port town on the northern side of Paros. It is called Barbarossa Pirate Festival and constitutes a revival of a Corsair attack night to celebrate the victory of the locals over the Turkish pirate Barbarossa.

In Medieval times, the pirates were a great threat to the Aegean islands, as they used to raid the towns for food and kill the inhabitants. This is why many villages in the Cyclades were constructed invisible from the sea so that the pirates believed the islands were not inhabited.

Barbarossa Pirate Festival is a representation of the pirates' raids, performed by young people. Fireworks are thrown to represent the battle and the fires of the pirates, while after the event, traditional dancing, eating, and drinking continue until dawn.