Rhodes island: Celebrating St. Andrew’s Day with the “Feast of Donuts”!
Today, the 30th of November is St. Andrew's Day - an important Saint for the Greek Orthodox Church. Many people in Greece take after his name and the feast is celebrated in different ways across the country.
There are many customs and traditions related to St. Andrew's Day in various European countries and in other parts of the world too. In Rhodes island, the ladies of the household had to make donuts or pancakes on the day of the important Saint, otherwise they would experience some bad luck! While making the donuts, the lady cooks would dip their finger in the frying pan and would make a cross sign on the food-storing cabinet in faith that it will always be full of goods...
In fact, the ladies of the household were afraid that St. Andrew would punish them by making holes in their pans if they didn’t make some donuts or pancakes to honor his name day! A lot of ladies maintain the custom even nowadays.
Who would like to feast in delicious donuts and pancakes?
If you are in Rhodes island today, you can visit the House of Culture and Folklore of Soroni where the Feast of Donuts (“Giorti ton Loukoumadon”) will take place from 18:00 onwards.
