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Next: 15 Mar 2027

Clean Monday

The first day of Orthodox Lent in Greece and Cyprus: kites in the hills, a meatless picnic and lagana bread.

Clean Monday
Photo: Перов, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

When is Clean Monday in 2027?

Clean Monday 2027 is on Monday, 15 March 2027. Other years: 2026, Monday, 23 February 2026; 2028, Monday, 28 February 2028.

About Clean Monday

Kathara Deftera, Clean Monday, is the first day of Great Lent for Greek Orthodox Christians, in the seven weeks before Easter. The name refers to cleansing from sin and the old ways. Families go to the countryside or the sea for a picnic of Lenten foods, with no meat, eggs or dairy, but with taramasalata, olives, beans, pickles, halva, shellfish and lagana, a flatbread baked only on this day. The day is also for flying kites, which fill the sky on hills near Athens, such as Philopappou. In the villages, there are folk customs, dances and the burning of a symbolic figure. The day is a public holiday. For the observant, Lent continues with fasting, prayer and quiet.

Clean Monday dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

YearClean Monday date
2026Monday, 23 February 2026
2027Monday, 15 March 2027
2028Monday, 28 February 2028

What is eaten

  • lagana
  • taramasalata
  • halva
  • olives
  • octopus

Traditions of Clean Monday

Great LentThe period it opens.

Also part of it, and being written: Lagana (The special flatbread.), Kite flying (The custom of Clean Monday.).

More marked on Clean Monday

🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreLentQuadragesima Forty days of prayer, fasting and giving that lead Christians towards EasterSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast 🇬🇷 Patras, GreecePatras CarnivalPatrino karnavali A winter carnival of parades, street games and satirical floats in western GreeceFestival
About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background: "Clean Monday" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.