TARPON SPRINGS -- COVID-19 is forcing some changes to the annual Epiphany celebration in Tarpon Springs, January 6th.
For one thing, most spectators will be barred. Attendance in the service at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral and the procession to Spring Bayou is limited to parishioners, the teenage divers, and a few dignitaries.
Only two family members per diver will be allowed to watch as the 55 boys aged 16-18 dive for the cross after the archbishop blesses the bayou and throws it into the water.
That's a major difference as thousands normally line Spring Bayou every year to see the divers swim for the cross.
Johanna (joanna) Kossifidis, St Nicholas' spokesperson, says the boys will be required to wear masks before and after they dive. But they won't be required to take a COVID-19 test as a prerequisite.
The Glendi (party) which follows the cross dive has been canceled this year.
Kossifidis says the church had extensive discussions with Tarpon Springs officials and first responders on how to conduct the event. She admits there's disappointment about some features being missing but says parishioners wanted the core of the observance to remain.
"The most important piece... is that our waters are blessed, and that the boys get to dive... because they wait their entire lifetime to participate in this event, and our traditions."
Epiphany has been observed in Tarpon Springs for more than a century, brought there by the Greek immigrants who established the city's natural sponge diving industry.