Naoussa Wine and Grape Harvest Festival

Naoussa Wine and Grape Harvest Festival is one of the wine festivals that anchors the Macedonia calendar, drawing both local visitors and international wine travellers each year. It is held at Naoussa in Imathia, in the heart of one of Greece's most distinctive wine areas. It is an annual event with an established local audience and a consistent place in the regional calendar. Celebrates the famous Xinomavro grape harvest with tastings, music and local food. Harvest and grape festivals — fiestas de la vendimia, festas das vindimas, weinlesefeste — are some of the longest-running celebrations in their regions, with many running uninterrupted for a century or more. Programmes typically combine grape-stomping demonstrations, traditional music, parades of allegorical floats, food stalls offering regional specialities, and tastings of the area's wines. The events have strong local character and are often as much community celebrations as wine programmes, with town councils, parish committees and local producer associations sharing the organisational load. Many festivals incorporate religious elements — blessings of the harvest, processions to the parish church — that connect the wine calendar to the liturgical year. The event is organised by Municipality of Naoussa & local winemakers, which sets the tone and direction of the programme each year. Macedonia in northern Greece is the country's red-wine heartland and the home of Xinomavro, Greece's most structured indigenous red grape — sometimes called the 'Nebbiolo of Greece' for its tannic intensity and ageing potential. The four protected appellations are Naoussa (the historic Xinomavro reference), Amyndeo (cooler, higher-altitude, also producing rosé and sparkling), Goumenissa (Xinomavro blended with Negoska), and Slopes of Meliton/Côtes de Meliton in Halkidiki. The region also produces high-quality whites from Assyrtiko, Malagousia (resurrected from near-extinction by Domaine Gerovassiliou) and international varieties. Producers like Boutari, Kir-Yianni, Alpha Estate, Domaine Karydas, Thymiopoulos and Gerovassiliou set the regional quality reference. The 2026 edition is scheduled for September-October 2026 (TBC). Cost details are best confirmed directly with the organiser ahead of travel. Full programme, ticketing and updated information are published on the official site at naoussa.gr. Visitors are advised to check directly with the organiser for the latest schedule, as festival programmes are sometimes updated close to the event date. Macedonia is reached via Thessaloniki airport (SKG), Greece's second-largest city, with Thessaloniki itself the natural base and Naoussa, Amyndeo and Goumenissa within 1-2 hours by car. Macedonian cuisine pairs the wines with the region's distinctive mezedes, soutzoukakia (spiced meatballs in tomato sauce), bougatsa, the area's strong cheese traditions (feta, kasseri, manouri), and the wider eastern Mediterranean food culture. Beyond wine, the UNESCO-listed monasteries of Mount Athos, the archaeological site of Vergina (the royal Macedonian tombs), and the Halkidiki beaches add to the regional travel offer.