One of the most characteristic manifestations that accompanied the festive rituals was the procession, that is the formation of a group which implemented a predefined task and moved towards the sanctuary. The procession in one way or another, was a fundamental element of every festival and was considered sacred. The most common one was that which preceded sacrifice. The "odos" (way), that is the route that the participants to the ritual followed was also considered sacred. In fact in Athens a special building existed for the preparation of the procession, the Pompeion , which was situated near the Sacred Gate. The procession of the Panathenaea started from there, and ended at the Acropolis. From the Sacred Gate also started the procession which ended in Eleusis via the Sacred Way for the realization of the mysteries. The participants were responsible for a specific role, and were separated into groups corresponding to the object they carried. Thus we meet kanephoroi (basket bearer), hydriaphoroi (hydries), pyrphoroi (torches), phialephoroi (carrying vessels used in spondai, the phialai), thallophoroi (branches) and cistephoroi (woven baskets or wooden chests). Some vessels or statues were transported in a dignifiednificent way on a chariot or on a ship-cart. Hence, the new peplos of Athena was transported to the Panathenaea and the statue of Dionysus Eleuthereus to Great Dionysia. In the Archaic Hymn to Apollo Apollo himself is presented as leading the procession to his Delphian sanctuary. Processions are also mentioned in other festivals of Apollo, such as the Daphnephoria of Thebes and valley of Tempi.

A special form of procession with collection gifts for the sanctuary as its object, was called agermos. In Athens the priestess herself of Athena Polias played a leading part and in Perge in Pamphylia the priestess of Artemis. In the Athenian Thargelia and Pyanopsia (festivals of the summer and autumn, respectively) children singing praising and congratulations songs carried a branch decorated with fruits and "aparchai", which was called Eiresione. A similar tradition was also known in Samos and Rhodes.

A common manifestation in the Greek cities was the ritual representation of the Sacred marriage. This term covered various mythological versions of the primary union Father Uranus to Mother Gaea. Occasionally this union was attributed to Zeus and Hera -as we can see from the Theogamia in Athens- or even to that of Dionysus and Ariadne. This latter version was later related to the Dionysian mysteries and the process of initiation, where consummation through sexual intercourse played an important role. Moreover, in Athens the offer of Basilinna (the wife of basileus) to god was considered a symbolic representation of the delivery of Ariadne to Dionysus by Theseus. In all probability these rituals come from primitive practices of initiation of the adolescent to sexuality.