Dear friends of Peliti,
with great pleasure, we invite you to the 24th Peliti Seeds Festival, on Saturday, May 11, 2024, from 10 am to 4 pm, at the land of Peliti in Mesochori, Paranesti, Drama, in theregional unity of Drama.
The distribution of traditional seeds will take place from 11:00 am – 14:00 pm. The Peliti Seed Festival is Peliti’s annual central event for traditional seed varieties and for the 29 years of Peliti (1995-2024).
The Peliti Seed Festival is a global meeting that embraces and is embraced by people from all over the world without discrimination of color, leaf, sexual orientation, language, etc. We see the commonalities that unite us as people.
The 24th Peliti Seed Festival 2024
is dedicated to the Kayapo Indigenous People
The 24th Peliti Seed Festival is organized by Peliti, with general coordinator Panagiotis Sainatoudis, founder of Peliti.
Photo by: Petros Sain
This Festival is the main event of the Community of Peliti throughout the year, celebrating the traditional seed varieties and this year we are also celebrating the 29 years of the Community of Peliti (1995-2024).
The 24th Peliti Seed Festival, organized by Peliti
with the kind support of :
The Center of Environmental Education of Paranesti
The Mindful EBID
The Green Team Bulgaria
All the excited with the Seed Festival of Peliti women and men from all over the planet.
A brief historical reference for the Peliti Seed Festival
The Peliti Seed Festival, which took place for the first time on 1999, at Karpi village in Kilkis, Greece, was the first public exchange of seeds in Greece.
On 2010 Peliti Seed Festival came to Peliti headquarters after a long journey in many different places
On 2012 and 2013, the International Seed Days took place at the same time
On 2013, the Austalia’s seedsavers reffered to the celebration as the Largest Seed Exchange in the World.
2014 was the starting point for the International Seed Solidarity Caravan. The International Seed Solidarity Caravan started from Peliti and went to the headquarters of Kokopelli in the South of France. Organizing events in Greece, Italy and France.
On 2015 during the celebration for the 20 years of the Community of Peliti (1995-2015) took place the 1st World Commons Meeting
On 2016 the theme was: seeds, immigrants, refugees, solidarity.
From 2017 to 2022 we organized the Olympic Seed Festival together with the Peliti Seed Festival.
The Peliti Seed Festival is a global meeting for local seed varieties and has inspired thousands of people worldwide, encouraging them to organize corresponding Seed Festival in Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Cyprus and other countries. The big difference that the Peliti Seed Festival has is that everything is free: accommodation, food, seeds, workshops, music, etc. Of course, if anyone wants to support the Peliti Seed Festival, voluntarily, with a workshop, with seeds, money, etc., any help is welcome. Every year, thousands of people not only from Greece but also from all over the world participate in the Peliti Seed Festival. Among these people are included renown personalities on the world movement for freedom of seeds, of land, of water, etc. Indicatively, we mention Dr. Vandana Shiva (2013 & 2015) from India, Michel & Jude Fantom, (2013) from Australia, Hugo Blanco (2015) from Peru, Jody Koperiski (2015) from Canada, Margrinos Rey (2015, 2019) from France, Tapsoba Ali De Goamma Burkina Faso (2017, 2019), Ananda Guillet from Kokopelli France (2018), John Caccia from U.S (2018) and many others.
It is now time, also, for you all, to tune in and focus on collecting seeds from the varieties you cultivate, becoming, thus, one of those who will offer some seeds and a lot of happiness in the 23rd Peliti Seed Festival. One of Peliti’s philosophical principles is to support the freedom of man to hold his own seeds, so that, each year he is not dependent, neither on the market nor even on Peliti.We encourage all of you that either have received seeds from Peliti during the previous years, or you keep up traditional varieties, to come this year on 23rd Peliti Seed Festival, in order to offer rather than receiving seeds. The festival is open to anyone who is interested, regardless of his/her cultivating seeds or not. The cultivation of traditional varieties and their free distribution is a profound political action. By the term “political” we mean the action we choose to solve the agricultural, environmental, economic and social problems of our country and not only. Peliti’s Seed Festival is a picture from the future. Everyone offer to the community, and, through that action, everyone has what they need. This is how we envision our future. We all offer to the community and we all have free access to all goods. This way, the festival can be organized through the voluntary offer of work, food, materials, seeds, plants, music, etc. All these are offered freely at the festival (seeds, plants, food, music, dance, speeches, activities, etc).
Festival Schedule
Seed distribution 11:00 a.m. – 14:00 p.m.
Speeches – Workshops
Creative employment for children
Workshop ‘mosaic with seed’, open seedbed and much more.
We present the gardens of hope that are consisted from local varieties of seeds
We will also have an exhibition of traditional agricultural tools and household utensils. The collection is by Theodoros Dimitriadis, who will talk about the usage of the tools.
Free Bazaar
The Forest of wishes in Peliti Land.
In the land of Peliti there is the forest of wishes. Here they can go children and adults. In the Forest of Wishes, we enter silently and respectfully. Here is the tree of wishes. When you get there you will recognize it from your heartbeat. Sit quietly in the tree of wishes and ask him for what you want. You should only be careful about what you will ask for. Why the tree has the power to help you satisfy your desire but has no judgment what is good and what is bad. In the forest of wishes reside and the fairies that help the plants to grow up. If you are lucky you can meet them.
See the exact location of the Festival
Tell us where do you come from, connect the place you live with Peliti, we are all tuned and connected.
photo by: Luciana A Mesquita
Giving small farmers a voice.
Through the 24th Peliti Seed Festival we want to give a voice to small farmers all over the world. Smallholder farmers are the ones who feed the world’s population according to research by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Small farmers are the ones who save their own seed for next year. We invite all of you who are small farmers throughout the length and breadth of the earth to send us photos of your garden, of your field of your seeds and to present them in a photo exhibition, on Peliti’s land in Mesochori Paranesti, Drama. After the Peliti Seed Festival, the exhibition will travel to other regions of the country as well as abroad.
Peliti building a sacred place for seeds
In its 29 years of operation (1995-2024), Peliti has changed the Greeks’ perception of local varieties. Peliti has saved over 4,000 varieties of vegetables, grains, pulses, etc. All seeds from Peliti are shared for free. In 2019 we started building the Peliti Seed Bank, a sacred place for seeds. conservation and propagation of traditional varieties. A space that will keeps the history of humanity, the flavors, the aromas and the freedom of human societies. read more
Fertility customs.
24th Peliti Seed Festial they will happen fertility customs by the Cultural Association of Pagoneri K. Neurokopiou Drama, member of the Center for Cultural Development of Eastern Macedonia.
Singing for Peliti.
And much more that you will see and live at the festival.
More information about Peliti
FB: Peliti community / Peliti community
FB: Peliti Seed Festival – in English
YouTube: Peliti/Peliti
Tik Tok: @panagiotis.sainatoudis
You can financially support Peliti.
Piraeus Bank.
IBAN: GR10 0171 1960 0061 9804 0030 332
SWIFT-BIC: PIRBGRAA
Beneficiary: Peliti Alternative Community
Reason: subscription.
Yours sincerely
Panagiotis Sainatoudis
Founder of Peliti
“Let God keep us healthy,
so we always be able to meet and have fun,
dancing on circular and be free like the rivers”
Until we meet again
Read also
How to get to Peliti