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The City of Athens, via its Cultural Organisation, invites one and all to join a major celebration this summer featuring 586 events that will take place in squares, open spaces and theatres throughout the city. The events harmoniously combine traditions and contemporary ideas and offer something for everyone, including residents, children and visitors to Athens.
The basic components of the “Cultural Summer 2009” programme are European Music Day featuring 27 events, the Culture for All programme with 430 events, the Athens Festival with 118 events and the 7th Athens International Dance Festival with 12 performances.
The Culture for All events, which began on June 18 and will run through September 21, make up an extensive programme which is taking place in 88 squares and open spaces in seven City Districts in collaboration with all City Districts and local associations.
Apart from the events which have already begun within the framework of European Music Day, the programme includes concerts featuring various music genres (art song, popular song, folk music, rock, pop, etc), theatrical performances and film screenings for people of all ages, Greek dance and Karagiozis puppet theatre.
This summer the programme will bring to life heroes we love and grew up with, such as Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Sleeping Beauty, Nemo and others for youngsters, as well as timeless Greek comedies such as “Santa Tsikita”, “Despinis eton 39”, “Thanassakis o Politevmenos”, “Lysistrati”, “Alimono stous Neous”, “O paras ke o foukaras”. Also, the traditional Karagiozis puppet theatre will appear once again throughout Athens.
Apart from the abovementioned events, outdoor exhibitions featuring canvas duplicates of paintings by Yiorgos Iakovidis, Yiorgos Roilou, Michalis Economou, Angelos Yialinas and others whose work appears at the Municipal Art Gallery, as well as the works of Greek engravers, will take place for the first time in an effort to familiarize the public, particularly young people, with distinguished Greek artists. These exhibitions will be held throughout the summer at Syntagma, Monastiraki, Kotzia, Klafthmonos, Thissio, Fokionos Negri and Lambrini Square, among others.
Additionally, the forgotten barrel organ, an instrument much loved by the Greek people as it accompanied their dance and celebrations for decades, will be revived in Athens neighbourhoods.
The main aim of the Culture for All programme is to promote all forms of art and culture, paying tribute to tradition but also promoting today’s art forms, and offer quality cultural stimuli to all Athens citizens, because culture should not be a privilege restricted for the few but available to all people.
Athens Festival
This year the Athens Festival will take place at four locations: the Attiko Woods Theatre, in collaboration with the Athens-Piraeus Super-Prefecture; the Dora Stratou Theatre; the Roman Agora and the Kolonos Open Theatre, where well-known and beloved names from all genres will make an appearance and offer citizens a cool note each evening with top-class performances which promote the richness of domestic cultural offerings.
This year the 3rd Attiko Woods Festival will host 71 events of high artistic quality at a newly-renovated theatre from July 2 to September 17.
The Dora Stratou Theatre will open its gates on July 1, where events will be held every Wednesday and Thursday (10 in July and 4 in September), while the Kolonos Theatre will host 30 music and theatrical performances from August 19 through September 18. Finally, the Roman Agora will host three events on July 6, 24 and 29.
The Athens Festival events programme is rich and varied: theatrical productions for people of all ages from the National Theatre, the National Theatre of Northern Greece, the Art Theatre, the Serres, Kozani and Crete municipal theatre companies, while various renowned artists will appear on stage, including Thymios Karakatsanis, Spyros Evaggelatos, Yiannis Bezos, Petros Filippidis, Kariofylia Karabeti, Lydia Koniordou, Stelios Mainas, Yiorgos Partsalakis, Yiorgos Kimoulis, Dimitris Piatas and Pavlos Haikalis.
We will be taken on a musical journey by Stamatis Kraounakis, Maria Farandouri, Filippos Pliatsikas, Lavrentis Maheritsas, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Mimis Plessas, Yiorgos Hatzinasios, Tania Tsanaklidou, Eleni Tsaligopoulou, Iro, Antonis Loudaros, Eleni Peta, Christos Nikolopoulos, Anastasia Moutsatsou, Sokratis Malamas, Maryo, Fivos Delivorias, Sophia Vossou, Stelios Rokkos and many others.
The Cultural Organisation, which aims to make culture available to all citizens of Athens and performances accessible to the general public, stages the events at the Attiko Woods Theatre and Dora Stratou Theatre and offers free admission or tickets at minimal cost, while those held at the Roman Agora and the Kolonos Open Theatre are all free of charge.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
