Religious services are celebrated the evening before and the morning of this day in the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Gavalochori.

This day is a celebration of the Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas’s saying “no” to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on October 28, 1940. Mussolini demanded that Greece allow Axis forces to enter Greek territory and occupy certain unspecified “strategic locations” or otherwise face war. His demand was allegedly answered by Metaxas with a single word: “No!,” but his actual reply was, “Alors, c’est la guerre!” (“Then it is war!”)  One of the reasons Metaxas had to oppose the Italian ultimatum was that the Greek people were excited about the upcoming war and had begun preparing for it almost as if they were going to a celebration. This atmosphere influenced Metaxas to respond as he did to Mussolini’s demand. In response to Metaxas’s refusal, Italian troops attacked the Greek border with Albania on that day, marking the beginning of Greece’s participation in World War II. The day is commemorated each year with military and student parades, most public buildings and residences are decorated with Greek flags, and schools and all places of work are closed. A parade no longer takes place in Gavalochori on this day, but you can see one in Vamos and in Chania.