July 9, 2024
The Expat Experience: Life in Cyprus Beyond the Beaches
Harvest Season in Cyprus: Autumn Festivals in the Island’s Villages
As the summer heat fades, Cyprus turns to its harvest. October is the month when the island’s villages celebrate what their land produces: wine, apples, chocolate and zivania. It’s one of the best times to discover life beyond the coast.
Wine in Limassol
The season opened with the 64th Limassol Wine Festival, held in the Municipal Gardens from 26 September to 4 October. Local wineries offered tastings, and the programme included 14 concerts and traditional entertainment, with events also in the wine villages of Ayios Mamas and Arsos.
Into the mountains
Up in the Troodos, the village of Platres hosted its Chocolate Festival on 3–4 October. A week later, on 10–11 October, the Kyperounta Apple Festival took place; Big 7 Travel named it one of the 25 best autumn food festivals in Europe for 2026. The month closed on 25 October in Pedoulas, where the Zivania & Palouze Festival marked the harvest with Cyprus’s traditional grape spirit and palouze, a sweet made from grape must.
What comes next
The festive season starts soon after. From 21 November to 6 January, nine villages across the island become Christmas Villages, with markets, crafts and seasonal food. Lofou in the Limassol district joins for the first time.
For us at Serenade, this is the Cyprus we build for: a home in Limassol, with the mountains, the villages and their traditions only a short drive away.
Sources:
