Dionysia Festival at Athens

City Dionysia: Month of Elaphebolion (Mar/Apr). Aition:  Eleutherae sent statue of the god, which Athenians spurned, resulting in male sexual dysfunction, which were alleviated when the Athenians began to worship Dionysos with phallophoria. [Source: Scholiast to Acharnians 243; DTC (2) 57, 60; Cole (1993), 26-29. Guy Hedreen, p. 192 in Dithyramb in Context.]

Day 1: Procession to Theater with statue of Dionysos Eleutherios and Phalloi. Basket-carriers, water carriers and wine carriers, like in rural Dionysia. Gifts, weapons, bulls for sacrifice. Choregoi in finest clothes. At theater, competitive chorus presentations of dithyrambs, with finest musicians (Simonides, Pindar, e.g.). Bull sacrifice, feast, komos.

Day 2:  Playwrights announce play titles; selection of judges for proagon.

Day 3, 4, 5:  Three sets of Tragedies/Satyr plays.

Day 6:  Five Comedies (more important at Lenaia festival)

Day 7:  Procession. Winning authors announced.

Rural Dionysia: Month of Poseideon (Dec/Jan). 

Procession:  phallophoroi, kanephoroi, obeliaphoroi, skaphephoroi, hyrriaphoroi, askophoroi. Contests of singing and dancing, dithyrambs. In Piraeus and Eleusis there might have been production of dramas produced the year before at the City Dionysia.