The 28th of October

The 28th of October might be an unknown or insignificant day for erasmus students around the world. So, why, you might ask, is it a national holiday for Greece? Why didn't you have your classes and why didn't the University even open on that day? In this entry, I will explain the meaning of the 28thof October for Greece, so that you will realise why you had a day off on the first semester!

This story goes back to 1940, during the war between Greece and Italy. The italian government sent an ultimatum to the greek government. However, Greece, declined the demands of Italy, with the words of its Prime Minister at the time, Ioannis Metaxas. This, for Italy, meant war. Italy went to the boarders of Greece, through Albania.From this date on, we know the 28thof October as the “no” celebration -so that we symbolise that Greece refused to settle for what Italy was asking. Many revolutionary songs were written during that period. The ones that have really survived through time were performed by Sofia Vembo, an iconic revolutionary singer. Actually, there is a musical being presented these days, based on the life of Sofia Vembo. The protagonist is Marinella, a very famous Greek singer and the musical is called “Marinella meets Vembo” and it is casted with numerous famous actors, who also sing very well. It is presented in the Badminton theatre, in case you are interested in learning more about this woman.

Anyway, I was talking about the songs for 28thof October. Those songs, usually satyric to Mussolini, alongside some poems, pictures, or even videos, are used for the schools' celebration of this day. Younger children draw the word “no” for arts class, while older ones study poems referring to the historical events. During the celebration, there is a choir singing, some poetry reading, as well as readings of extracts of actual documents found from 1940, revealing information on the situation. Many people also put the greek flag on their balcony on this date, to remember what happened.

Another part of this holiday is the national parade. There is the army's parade and the schools' parade, on two consecutive days. Students make this parade, dressed in white and black or blue. The public attends the parade and so do the municipality's politicians. The students with the best grades are at the front of their school and the one with the highest trimester scores gets to hold the greek flag. People go to see their local parade and, when it comes to families with children, they usually buy them little paper flags of Greece, so that they can wave them as the parade goes on. During the parade, there is music and sometimes they even recite poems. Each school brings drums to give the rhythm for the students to walk in the parade. There are at least 2 drum players, but there could be more.

That's the basic information on this day, but if you like history, you can read about it to find out more.