Bourani: Celebrating a Dionysian Phallus Festival in Tyrnavos

Last Monday, I attended my very first phallus festival.

Called Bourani (Μπουρανί), the festival takes place in Tyrnavos (Τύρναβος), a Thessalian town where people of all ages and backgrounds gather from around Greece to celebrate fertility and the end of the Carnival season. It’s not technically a Pagan festival (at least, not Pagan with a capital “P”), but the rituals are undeniably Dionysian with themes of fertility, mask-wearing, gender bending, vulgar language, and satire.