Corfu has the ability to incorporate each new element without significantly altering its cultural physiognomy. In Corfu one can meet – even today – intact elements of the ancient Greek civilization like placenames, customs, vices etc.
The events and ceremonies that take place in villages on the Tyrofagos Sunday and Shrove Monday are remnants of the ancient Greek cult worshipping Dionyssos and coexist with the Corfiot Carnival, rooted in the Italia Comedia del’Arte.
Corfu’s musical tradition also constitutes a dynamic composition of ancient Greek and Byzantine elements combined with others introduced mainly by Venetians and the British. Serenades and barcaroles coexist with folk songs, the roots of which go as deep as antiquity and the quadraphonia of religious hymns.
The inclination of Corfiots to the spectacles, the music and the opera is the result of the living history and coexists with the deepest respect for the national and religious symbols.