July and August are busy months in Crete as towns and villages all over the island celebrate with different types of festivals. For visitors to Crete the local festivals present an ideal opportunity to experience some local culture and learn a little about the history and traditions of the island.

The region of the Lassithi Plain in the centre of the island has an interesting past, with its location and inaccessibility being the reason for its importance in the past. The Plain sits at altitude surrounded by mountains and presents a wonderful sight for visitors as they crest the hills after climbing the roads to reach the area. When the Venetians came to conquer the island in the thirteenth century locals used the Lassithi Plain to resist the invaders. Once the locals had been overcome on the plain the Venetians banned anyone from living there for a period of two hundred years. During the Second World War the plain was also used as a refuge by the Cretan Resistance. The plain has always been a fertile place for agriculture and around ten thousand small windmills were constructed to pump water to the crops. Some of the windmills remain after restoration and allow visitors to imagine the wonderful scene they would have created.

Also located on the Lassithi Plain is the Diktean Cave, the alleged birthplace of Zeus before, according to one version of the story, he was taken to Mount Ida in the centre of the island where another cave was used to raise him.

The Kornaria festival during July and August on the Lassithi Plain celebrates its historic past and its agricultural traditions. The town of Sitia is the main focus for the events which include exhibitions, sporting competitions and theatrical performances.