Wine Festival of Dafnes ★ 4.5
The village square at Dafnes pours its own wine for free at this July festival, with cheap Cretan food, lyra music, dancing and folk art stalls running for up to a fortnight.
Focus: Cretan wine
Food festivals in Heraklion worth planning a trip around, by month.
Festivals through the year
Houdetsi Festival ★ 4.3
Four August nights of concerts on five village stages in Houdetsi, twenty-two kilometres south of Heraklion, starting at nine in the evening and running until early morning.
Focus: Cretan music and village food
Tip: The village also holds the Labyrinth Musical Workshop, which puts on exhibits of traditional Cretan instruments alongside the festival programme.
Rakokazana ★ 4.6
From October to December the villages around Heraklion fire their stills and turn grape pomace into tsikoudia, and each rakokazano turns into an open party with roast meat, chestnuts, lyra and the first warm raki.
Focus: Tsikoudia
Feast of Saint Titus ★ 4.0
On 25 August the Municipality of Heraklion honours Saint Titus, the island's first bishop, with a town-wide feast and traditional Cretan food and sweets handed out to everyone who turns up.
Focus: Traditional Cretan food and sweets