Most of our information refers to the 5th century BCE, though we can assume some continuity across time. Tradition held that Thesus had founded the festival, though the introduction of athletic contests and the separation between Greater and Lesser didn’t happen until the archonship of Hippoclides in the mid 6th century BCE.
The Greater Panathenaia probably lasted 6-8 days, with the Lesser taking up only 2-3. Three musical competitions took up the first part of the Greater festival. The victors received olive crowns set with gold. These competitions were followed by the gymnastic contests for boys, adolescents, and adult men. The winners received a number of amphorai of olive oil, which they could sell duty free. Tribal competitions followed, including a beauty contest for athletes, a pyrrhic dance, and a torch race, with the winner’s torch being used to light the sacrificial fire on the altar of Athena.
The morning after the torch race came the procession, perhaps the most important part of the festival besides the sacrifices themselves. Every free person in Athens could participate, though only Athenian citizens were allowed past the Gateway to the Acropolis. One of the most important positions in the procession was held by young girls from prominent families carrying baskets. To deny this position to a well-born girl was an enormous insult. Also of note in the procession was the enormous peplos or robe woven new by upper class women** every four years for the statue of Athena Polias. It was large enough to be hung on a ship’s mast and traditionally depicted Athena’s defeat of the giants.
The procession ended with sacrifices to Athena: one at the Gateway, one to Athena Nike, and finally a hectatomb to Athena Polias (Athena of the City). This was followed by feasting and celebrations that lasted for at least the next day, possibly two days. The Lesser Panathenaia included this procession and sacrifice, but not most of the contests.
*There’s some evidence it was celebrated elsewhere as well, but this is the one we know about.
**Until the Hellenistic period it was actually considered a bad thing to mention the names or families of those who had done the weaving, though it may be they had a special place in the procession.
Panathenaia - Theoi
Panathenaia - Perseus
Thyucidides, Peloponnesian War 6.56 - Perseus
Pomeroy, Sarah. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Pantheon Books, 1995.
Herington, C.J. Athena Parthenos and Athena Polias: A Study in the Religion of Periclean Athens. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 1955.
Panathenaic Festival - Athenian Daily Live, University of Massachusetts Boston
Panathenaic Festival - Ancient World History
The Panathenaia - Classical Period