The Vlach wedding in Thiva is one of the most lively pre-Christian remnants of ancient Greek ceremonies.

Such ceremonies were held In early spring, the season of flowering, fertility and regeneration of nature, and they featured phallic songs, mocking and fiery dances, wine drinking, teasing, obscene gestures, representations of death and resurrection. The shepherds also did similar ceremonies so that land would sprout for their flocks to graze.

This folk farce has been preserved over the centuries by Vlach peasants of the region of Aspropotamos, that had remained untouched by the Turks and other foreign conquerors. From there, it was brought to Thiva around 1830.
Everything brings to mind Dionysusand this is the reason that this custom, grafted with other local folk customs related to fertility and regeneration, has found fruitful ground and put down roots in Thiva, the homeland of Bacchus, where similar celebrations such as Dionysia also took place.
The set of events of the Vlach Wedding peaks with the procession and the ceremony of the “wedding” on Clean Monday, and the satirical dialogue, held in the Vlach accent, between the groom and the bride, which semantically brings the ancient Dionysian worship to the present day, dramatised and illustrated in a theatrical manner with the circle ‘dance of the dead’—the highlight of the ceremony.

The feast, the procession, Pyrrhichios dance, the flags with the carnation-studded oranges, the crooks (variations of the Bacchic thyrsi), sharp satire, obscenity and banter, non-stop dance, the actors in their peculiar costumes (traditional shoes tied to white socks like ancient sandals, with ivy branches on their heads) and their tricks, the dance of the dead indicationg the resurrection of nature, the victory of life over death, are few of the signs that this “Wedding”, this multifaceted popular tribute, is an authentic relic of the ancient orgiastic Dionysus cult.

The Vlach wedding of Thiva was registered in the National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, thanks to the efforts of the Municipality of Thiva, the Municipal Association of Thiva and the Traditional Vlach Wedding Association of Thiva, as a “spring event to bring good fortune, fertility and well-being”, which is performed during the period of Apokries and specifically on Tyrini Sunday (Cheesefare or Forgiveness Sunday) and peaks on Clean Monday. It is presented as a satire of a traditional wedding, as a virtual pastoral wedding, as a wedding ritual consisting of individual ritual acts linked by ‘order’ and rules of sequence between them, and in which in the past only men participated in all the leading and secondary roles’.

The National Index is the Greek registry of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the form of an index.

For the registration in the National Index, Dr. Andromachi Economou, Principal Researcher of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre of the Academy of Athens, in collaboration with the Municipality, the Municipal Association of Thiva and the Board of the Traditional Association wrote the special bulletin regarding this custom, which was submitted to the Ministry of Culture. This bulletin includes a description of the custom, the organizers, historical data, indicative photos, core literature, and as annex the songs and dances of the Vlach wedding. Videos, photos and a CD containing all songs sung by the participants with traditional music, produced by the Traditional Vlach Wedding Association of Thiva in 2017, were also submitted.

The entry of the Vlach Wedding of Thiva in the National Index, which was made with the contribution of the Traditional Vlach Wedding Association, is an important step towards the promotion and preservation of this custom and the recognition of the cultural heritage of the city of Thiva.