Clean Monday at Stavros Niarchos Park
On Clean Monday, 15 March 2027, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre holds the Koulouma on the Great Lawn — kite workshops, traditional music and dance, and a feast that sees off the carnival and opens Lent.
Clean Monday at Stavros Niarchos Park is an annual open-air celebration of Kathara Deftera held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre in Kallithea — the Koulouma on the Great Lawn that closes the carnival season and opens Great Lent. The 2027 edition falls on 15 March. The campus was completed by Renzo Piano in 2016 above Faliron Bay and is home to the Greek National Opera and the National Library of Greece.
The Koulouma — the traditional open-air feast that closes the carnival season and opens Lent — is held on the Great Lawn. The programme runs from midday until three, with kite-making workshops alongside. In previous years the ethnomusicologist Lambros Liavas has curated a panorama of Greek traditional music and dance on the lawn, drawing on songs and dances from across the regions. The 2026 edition, held on 23 February, gave the music to Vasiliki Karakosta, who gathered singers across generations for a programme dedicated to the sky and the earth.
The event is held free of charge, sustained by a donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The full 2027 programme publishes closer to the date.