Each year, on the last Sunday (Lent) of the carnival season, an old custom, Koudounati (bell-strapped men), is revived in Apiranthos.
Men strapped with bells and carrying Dionysian phallic symbols known locally as somba, stir up a racket while parading through the village alleys in a procession held to welcome the spring season and exorcise evil spirits.
The procession winds up at the village main square, where its participants join forces with other carnival-dressed revelers.
Together, they plunge into celebration with singing and dance accompanied by traditional bag-pipe (tsabouna) and percussion (toumbaki) sounds for a party that lasts well into the night.
