It is said that the Naxiotes learn to dance in the womb or that they can dance before they can walk—and that when they dance, it is frenzied, ceaseless with an energy that is both Cretan and Naxian. They compose and sing witty songs and playful verses or kotsakia, improvised rhymes comprised of two eight-syllable lines. During the carnival season, or apokries, Naxos is a whirlwind of color, sound, and Dionysian dances. At Apeiranthos and Filoti, koudounatoi (from koudouni, the Greek for bell), masqueraders dressed in hooded capes with bells strapped to their chests and waists, stomp around teasing passersby. In Hora, the capital, there are street theater performances and, on the last Saturday of apokries, a torch race from the Kastro to the waterfront by youths wrapped in white bedsheets or animal hides bound with bells, holding lamps and playing drums and tsabounes (bagpipes) to scare away evil spirits. After parading through the town, the masqueraders light a large bonfire which they gather around, eating, drinking, dancing, and singing. The carnival period coincides with hoirosfagia, the slaying of the family pig and the curing of its meat to provide food for the family during the year. On “Clean” Monday, the first day of Lent, kordelatoi (from kordela, Greek for ribbon), or foustanelatoi (from foustanela, Greek for kilt) dance in the squares of Livadi’s villages with colored ribbons streaming from their shoulders and hats. In early fall, islanders celebrate the end of the wine harvest by distilling raki, rakitzo or hatzanemata, in the homes of grape producers with raki stills. On Naxos, revelry isn’t just linked to seasonal or other celebrations but to religious observances—and these folk festivals are frequent given the island boasts 500 churches. On May 20, there is the panigyri of Ayios Thalalaios at the village named in his honor, but also the panigyri dedicated to Saints Constantine and Helen at Komiaki, where three or four local music duos perform. On June 20, the feast of the Ayii Apostoloi, a three-day panigyri is held at Melanes, while less than a month later, on July 14, pilgrims head to Hora for the panigyri of Ayios Nikolaos Ayioritis, the island’s patron-saint. The Dormition of the Virgin on May 15 is celebrated with religious folk festivals around the island: some are held on the holiday’s eve and some on the day itself, while at Filoti, it is held over three whole days. Nine days later, the Apodosis of the Virgin on August 23, is the feast day of the Panayia at Tripodes. September 8, the birth of the Virgin Mary, is the feast day of the Panayia Drosiani at Moni and Panayia Theoskepasti at Komiaki—and a panigyri is part of the observances at each church. The calendar ends with the feast of Ayios Filipos on November 14 when the new wines are opened.