In Chania, spring is less about fragrant blooms and more about getting your shoes caked in mud while foraging for edible “horta” (wild greens) that look suspiciously like the weeds back home. “Let’s Go for Horta” Spring 2025 wraps up with an all-out celebration on the weekend of April 26–27, spreading its earthy cheer across the entire region. These events—open to all with no entrance fee and even fewer prohibitions on questionable homemade raki—seem calculated to remind city folk how soft their hands have become.
Participants will gather Saturday, April 26, in the village of Mothiana Kolymbari. In a stunning act of cultural nostalgia, they will join the Mothiana–Skafiotou Cultural Association “Anagennisi” for a walk to the old stone bridge and a pit stop at a time-worn fountain dating back to 1882. Along the way, they’ll hunt for wild greens (no prior botanical expertise needed, just a casual disregard for culinary safety) right up to the hermitage of Saint Leonidas. Water breaks are mandatory, as is returning to the village square, where local hospitality threatens to overwhelm anyone watching their sodium intake.
Meeting details:
- Location: Mothiana School
- Time: 11:00 a.m.
- Contact: Dimitra Nikitopoulou, 6978389208
Moving on to Sunday, April 27 (also conveniently known as Thomas Sunday, a date familiar to precisely nobody under 60), the call of the horta lures wanderers to Spilia Kolymbari. Here, the Spilia Cultural Association “Enotita” serves up a smorgasbord of local customs: visitors will parade through picturesque alleys, knead and fill kalitsounia (those Cretan greens pies your nutritionist warned you about), study local greens (edible and questionable alike), distill floral water the old-fashioned way, and bear witness to a musical celebration that may or may not last until your sunscreen fails.
Meeting details:
- Location: Platania Spilias
- Time: 11:00 a.m.
- Contact: Christina Kanitsaki, 6946278019
“Let’s Go for Horta” has, over the past three months, lulled the county of Chania into a near-mystical trance with its mixture of tradition, exercise, and low-level culinary risk. Free participation ensures that nobody can use budget constraints as an excuse for skipping cardio.
“Let’s Go for Horta is not just a walk—it’s a journey through taste, memory, and hospitality,” chirps an official, with just enough earnestness to sound suspicious.
More details can be found on the official site.
Main points, for those afraid of missing the obvious:
- Free events across Chania, April 26–27, 2025
- Wild greens foraging and scenic village walks
- Back-to-back partnerships with local cultural clubs
- Food, music, and hands-on traditions sprinkled with skepticism
- Open invitation—no experience needed, just curiosity and sturdy shoes
Why would anyone volunteer for this?
Certainly, one could binge on Netflix and supermarket greens, but where’s the communal shame in that? “Let’s Go for Horta” banks on nostalgia, local pride, and humanity’s enduring passion for pretending they can tell the difference between edible wild plants and future ER visits. Locals will point to bridges, springs, and hermitages as proof of Chania’s ageless charm, while tourists will nod, take photos, and forget the details by dinner.
- Spectacle of village life at its least polished
- Opportunity to meet actual Cretans who are suspiciously willing to feed strangers
- Plant identification ranging from obvious (dandelions) to experimental (insert unnamed green)
- Social gatherings dressed up as exercise
- No admission fee—which means you can spend more on dessert
In summary, Chania’s “Let’s Go for Horta” is spring in its most unfiltered form: green, chaotic, and lightly seasoned with satire.
