During the carnival period of Lent, a Corfiot custom known as petegoletsa takes place in St Spyridon Square. It is a theatrical event which started in the 1960s and is always performed in the local dialect, with many elements taken from the Italian Commedia dell'arte. It satirises community affairs and mimics the inter-balcony "gossip" of the inhabitants of the city, whose windows or small balconies (known as fanestres) are practically within touching distance across the narrow streets.