Ifestia is the Santorini volcanic festival, staged with a large pyrotechnic display on Nea Kameni (the active volcanic islet at the centre of the caldera) and viewed from caldera-rim villages including Fira and Oia.
Tip: The view from Oia is heavily photographed but very crowded; Imerovigli and the Skaros rim provide an alternative vantage with caldera-side wine bars open through the evening.
The Megaron Gyzi Festival is an established arts and culture festival on Santorini, held each summer at the 17th-century Catholic mansion of the Gyzi family in Fira.
Tip: Some events sell out months in advance; the official festival site publishes the full programme in late spring each year.
The Santorini Arts Factory occupies a converted tomato-cannery building at Vlychada on the south coast and runs an annual summer arts programme of theatre, film and music with regular wine-pairing receptions.
Tip: Combine an evening event at the Arts Factory with a sunset visit to Hatzidakis or Anhydrous in the same coastal area for a south-Santorini wine evening.
The Santorini Jazz Festival has been held on the island each July since the 1990s, staged in the beachfront amphitheatre at Kamari. The festival programme includes international jazz acts, and several Santorini producers participate as wine partners at the festival's reception and intermission programme. It is a long-running summer cultural fixture on the island alongside the wine calendar.
Tip: Wine producers in Kamari and nearby Megalochori run themed Friday-evening tastings during the festival; ask at Estate Argyros and Boutari Santorini for the calendar.
The Festival of the Aegean is a Cyclades-wide classical music festival running each July with venues across Syros and partner islands including Santorini.
Tip: The festival's Santorini events are typically smaller-scale than the main Syros programme; check the official site for the year's specific Santorini schedule.
International Assyrtiko Day, celebrated on or around July 25 each year, is a Wines of Greece initiative that highlights the dominant Santorini grape on producer cellar doors and at participating restaurants and wine bars internationally. Santorini producers offer themed Assyrtiko-only flights, and the event has expanded steadily since its launch with participating venues from London to New York and across the Greek mainland.
Tip: Producer cellar doors run Assyrtiko-only flights on the day; the Wines of Greece site lists participating international venues.
The Great Days of Greek Wine is the annual showcase wine trade and consumer fair held in Thessaloniki each March. Santorini producers including Santo Wines, Sigalas, Argyros, Boutari, Gaia and Hatzidakis exhibit and pour current-release Santorini PDO Assyrtiko, Nykteri styles and Vinsanto alongside producers from across the Greek mainland. The fair gathers a broad range of Santorini producers in a single indoor tasting session.
Tip: The trade day on the first morning offers calmer tasting; the public sessions in the afternoon and second day are busier.