29 Posts in Entertainment

The program of this year's events was edited by the Municipality's Culture, Sports & Youth Organization (OPANDA) and Technopoli, in collaboration with This is Athens and the radio station Athens 9.84, while the actions of "Olympia, Municipal Musical Theater Maria" have a special place Kallas", as well as the new cultural spaces, the Municipal Market of Kypseli, the Maria Kallas Museum and the Athens Book Space in the reformed Freedom Park. Events include, among others, educational programs and workshops for children and families, music in live concerts and parties, musical theater performances, book launches and readings, events inspired by books and museum exhibitions, as well as ten "Christmas villages" with unique holiday surprises in each . "The Municipality of Athens is again this year carrying the festive spirit of Christmas from one end of the city to the other. A program full of music, special performances and hundreds of surprises awaits young and old to celebrate the brightest time of the year. Happy holidays with health and love to everyone", said the mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis. The "Christmas Villages" in ten neighborhoods From December 23 to January 6, ten "Christmas Villages" in as many neighborhoods will offer rich activities for young and old. From Acharnon and Lamprini to Pagrati and Hellinorosson, Santa Claus and his elves will "transform" some of the most central neighborhoods into "villages" of joy and celebration, they will welcome young and old children with constructions, sweet treats , face painting and many more festive events. The events are accompanied by, among others, stilt walkers, jugglers, mascots, animateurs, puppets and jugglers. Athens is full of music Syntagma Square will once again "dance" to the rhythm of Christmas this year. For seven days, a total of 15 live concerts by local artists, bands and bands will take place on the main Christmas music stage. The George Zervos Trio, The Wedding Singers, Hermaphrodites Child, Vasilis Kazoulis with Kitrina Podilata and Alexandra Koniak, Dimitris Tsakas Quintet, Polkar, Gumbo Ya Ya with Sugahspank and Emily Mesko, Nefeli Fasouli, Sub Quartet, Panos Vlachos, Jerome Kaluta, the Mihalis Kalkanis Group, the Christmas Gala with the voices of Maria Katrivesis and Yiannis Housakos, Jaguar Bombs and Tonis Sfinos & The Playmates, promise to lift the festive mood. Parties will be set up again this year in unexpected places of the city. The Mobile Party Needless will turn the Square of Justice (Santaroza) into a Christmas dancefloor, the radio station Kosmos will set up a "Xmas Party" specially dedicated to the magazine "Schedia" at the Municipal Market of Kypseli, the Cool Crips at the Serafion of the Municipality of Athens, the Stoa Emporon is transformed by Pepper 96.6 into a fun spot, while on Christmas day, the "Xmas Extravaganza" & Beyond at the Kypseli Municipal Market with dynamic beats by favorite selectors and DJs. At the same time, at the "Olympia, Maria Callas Municipal Music Theater" the popular operetta by Nikos Hadziapostolos "Apachides of Athens", directed by Vassilis Mavrogeorgiou and musical direction by Cornelios Michaelides, with the Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the Municipality of Athens. The same venue will host the concert of Thodoris Kotonias and Savveria Margiolas, as well as "Christmas in New York" by the Athens Big Band, while the cultural spaces of OPANDA and the Polychoros "Anna and Maria Kalouta" will be "flooded" for throughout the holidays with Christmas songs, traditional melodies, but also concerts for children. Finally, on the festive days, the ATHINA 9.84 van will fill the neighborhoods of Athens with Christmas music and children's choirs. His stops include the Benaki Museum on Piraeus Street, as for one morning he will musically "dress up" the educational activities surrounding the exhibition of Giorgos Chatzimihalis, while on 20-28/12 he will decorate the Syntagma with his music. Especially for December 20, the city's radio station joins forces with "Together for the Child" in the Christmas radio marathon supporting families and children in need.   The magic of the book "travels" young and old Fairy tales have their "honorary" every Christmas, which is why the new cultural space of the Municipality of Athens, the Athens Book Space in Eleftheria Park, invites young and old to "get lost" in the magic of the pages. Children will enjoy activities that combine the reading of fairy tales and stories from around the world with comics, music, and even chess, in separate and highly original workshops, while adults will have the opportunity to take part in a creative reading workshop, in the Reading Club of Classical Literature, as well as to attend discussions and analyzes of poetry collections and novels by writers and journalists. At the same time, the Municipal Market of Kypseli will also be "seduced" by the magic of the book, as it hosts the Christmas book markets of Psychogios Publications and the Booktopia group, while the Children's and Adolescent Library will dedicate an educational program to the life and work of Charles Dickens. Museum tours and exhibitions with free entry To celebrate its first Christmas, the city's new museum, the "Maria Callas Museum", opens its doors for a double guided tour with free entry (phone reservation required). Participants will discover the world of the great diva, opera and lyrical theatre, through a path of experiential experience, enriched by audio-visual media, texts, new technologies, audio and historical evidence. At the same time, the first concert in its premises comes from the Athenian Quintet "Dimitrios Dounis", where in the two performances "Christmas Visions" they will present a festive program with Christmas suites from the Renaissance to the present day, written by Greek and foreign composers. At the Arts Center will be held the solo exhibition of Kostas Bassanou entitled "Working Title", which deals with the invisible creative space of artistic production, while at the Athens Municipality Art Gallery the first retrospective exhibition of the painter Alexis Kyritsopoulos entitled "Parallel", with works from in 1963 to date. The Museum of Folk Art and Tradition "Aggeliki Hatzimichalis" will present the exhibition of handmade weavings "The Feathered Weaves of Ossa Thessaloniki", while on New Year's Eve it will organize a folkloric holiday tour of the Hatzimichalis mansion. Finally, the "Melina" Cultural Center organizes for visitors over 60 a nostalgic cultural walk through the city's past, starting from the permanent exhibition "Travelling of old Athens", continuing to the story-filled Thisio and the pedestrian street of Heraklion and ending in the exhibition "Eureka: Science, Art & Technology of the Ancient Greeks" of the Heraklion Museum. Night of Wishes - Atmospheric Christmas Revival in Kotzia Square "Wishing Night" has now become a beloved Christmas Eve custom. On December 24, young and old will "light up" Kotzia Square with traditional biodegradable lanterns, which will travel to the sky carrying wishes. On this magical Christmas night, the atmospheric melodies will come from the van of the ATHINA 9.84 station, which will musically "dress up" the event with selections from its radio producers. We welcome 2024 from Syntagma Square On New Year's Eve, the appointment is of course given at Syntagma Square. Hosted by the duo of ERT's "Studio 4", Nancy Zampetoglou and Thanasis Anagnostopoulos, the world will say goodbye to 2023 with an audio-visual extravaganza full of live music, dance, fireworks, glitter and many surprises, and welcome 2024 with optimism and joy (the line-up of the first live concert of the year will be announced soon). New Year's Eve Party The biggest New Year's party will take place again this year in Varvakeio. Just before the change of time, Street Outdoors will be waiting for the people in the most central Agora of the city, where DJs and producers will turn wishes into music, so that 2024 will find the citizens in the most danceable party in the heart of Athens until early morning hours. (More information and detailed schedule of events: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dZu_niqAliBNrZAoyPCg_WpkUNqfs_sHI8b01tJ3Ufo/edit?usp=sharing)

A special festive event with free entry for the public and hosted by Nadia Kontogeorgis, marks the start of the SNFCC Christmas World and is made possible thanks to a donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). On the first night of December, countless holiday lights are turned on, casting their glow on the plane trees of the Canal and the decorated fir trees of the Agora. A Festival of Lighting Installations sets a bright tone in the evening Stavros Niarchos Park: four works by distinguished foreign artists and a Greek participation magnetize the eyes by creating a choreography with the material light. Even the Fountains on the Canal participate in the spectacle in their own spectacular way. The scenery is completed by the Ice Rink in Kanali, waiting for experienced and non-skaters to dance on the ice. The appointment is at 19:00 at the Agora where the youth choir of El Sistema Greece opens the evening with traditional carols and other well-known Christmas songs. Next, Mwenso and the Shakes come straight from Harlem, New York and blow the crowd away with a special Christmas program called 'Afrofuturistic Christmas Wonderland'. An exuberant music performance sprinkled with Christmas gold dust and all-time classic hits such as Santa Claus is coming to town, Have yourself a merry little Christmas, Rudolph the red nose reindeer, Winter wonderland and Silent night. This is a celebratory concert held in collaboration with the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, as part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation-Lincoln Center (SNF-LC) Agora Initiative, a partnership to redefine public space, part of which are the "Twin Agoras" at the SNFCC and Lincoln Center. The entire event will be broadcast from Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall. The December 1 celebration will also be broadcast online by ERT2. More information and the detailed program of the SNFCC Christmas World can be found at snfcc.org/Xmas2023, as well as on the SNFCC social media pages @SNFCC. Entrance is free.

A total of 59 events will fill 30 neighborhoods of Athens with rhythm, sounds and images in all seven municipalities. For more than a month, the city's theatres, squares, parks and courtyards will become the summer residence of both new and established artists who participate in the events. "All Athens is a stage" is the continuation of last year's programme by the Municipality of Athens, which this year also sent an open invitation to artists to submit their proposals for the event. The program is organised by the Organisation for Culture, Sports and Youth of the Municipality of Athens (OPANDA), within the framework of Culture is Athens, bringing together the public and artists. In his statement, the mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, underlined: "This year's big outdoor celebration 'spreads' across the entire city to offer Athenians summer evenings full of quality entertainment. We are happy, because once again great artists responded to our invitation to participate in this special cultural event planned with great interest and care by OPANDA. We invite young and old to every park, every square, every open space of Athens - where this year the heart of 'All Athens is one stage' will beat - to come and spend unforgettable summer moments in the city". Summer is when we shine the brightest. The City of Athens makes sure of that by turning the whole of Athens into a performance stage for more than a month with its aptly titled annual initiative “All Athens is a Stage”. Starting July 2nd and going till August 4th, a great number of live concerts, theatrical performances, movie screenings, activities for children and much much more will take place all across the city, all with free entrance. Here’s a selection of some great opportunities to take in the local spirit and join the summer festivities: 22/07: Athens Municipality Symphony Orchestra and quinteto TANGartO join forces for a Concerto Grosso (orchestral baroque music). Open Air Theatre of Colonus, 9 pm 24/07: Music concert dedicated to Greek artists, composers, and poets. Lambraki Hill, 9 pm 29/07: “On The Road Again” a musical journey through the local and international rock scene. Lambraki Hill, 9 pm 31/07 & 04/08: “Tango Greco”, a music and dance performance. Victoria Square, 9 pm 03/08: “Michael Cacoyannis Repérage” a screening of the film The Wastrel (1961) by Michael Cacoyannis, photo exhibition and soundtracks from Cacoyannis’ films. Filopappou Square, 9 pm Info     Tickets: Free admission     Date: 02 July 2023 - 04 August 2023     Time: Various times/places.  

Highlights include uilleann piper Padraic Keane, flutist Fearghas Mac Gormain, fiddlers Cliodhna Begley and Aidan Connolly, concertina player Paddy Egan, and virtuoso multi-instrumentalist Caoimhin O Fearghail, as well as a host of local of local Irish-themed acts. Athens Irish Festival | Athens | June 22-24th. Admission free. Visit inisarts.gr/athens-irish-festival for more information.   (Photo: Originally named “Keltoi”, Iernis is the oldest Celtic music band in Greece, with the Australian-born George and Manolis Galiatsos brothers as its core, and it concerns itself with the spread of traditional Celtic music in our counry since 1997, but also with the conservation and performance of Celtic songs which have not appeared often in discography. Many of them are in the form of a cappella recordings by traditional singers, and they are re-arranged according to the band's aesthetics, after many years of studying and persistently researching their historical, anthropological and musical background. The band has created a soundscape of tunes and songs from Ireland, Scotland, Bretagne, Galicia, as well as some American tunes, using traditional Irish instruments such as the wooden flute, fiddles, Irish whistles, bodhrán, banjo, mandolin, Irish bouzouki (built by Manolis), and Uilleann pipes with Scott Mavroudis. On December 2012 they released their first album called “Beyond a far-off shore”, and since 2014 they are among the founding and directing members of the Athens Celtic Music Festival. At times they have collaborated with great musicians such as Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, Jack Rogers and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh. On June 2012 Manolis and George Galiatsos performed as guests of Andy Irvine at the concerts dedicated to his 70th birthday at Vicar Street, Dublin, and on 2019 they invited him to perform at the 5th Athens Celtic Music Festival. What is behind the name Iernis? "Iérnē" was the name given by the ancient Greek explorer Pytheas of Massilia to the place now known as Ireland, during his journeys in north-western Europe circa 320 BC, based on the preexisting local Proto-Goidelic name Īweriū, from which Éire is also derived. During Roman times the Alexandrian philosopher Claudius Ptolemy called it "Iouernia", hence the Latin version Hibernia, and a town called Ivernis was mentioned in south-western Ireland, its people called Iverni. This name was derived from Proto-Indo-European *PiHwerjoHn, "fertile land", and was perhaps once the common name for all the inhabitants of Ireland.)

The restrictions will take effect from 17:00 until the end of events late at night, and parking of private vehicles during that time will be prohibited on these streets.   For more information visit: https://www.athens24.com/agenda/athens-pride-2023.html

For theatergoers in Athens, watching the tragic story of the young geisha Cio-Cio-San unfold in Puccini’s emotionally charged classic has become a familiar favorite at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the stone theater the Romans built at the foot of the Acropolis more than 1,800 years ago. Late Thursday, it hosted an open-air performance of “Madame Butterfly” to launch Greece’s main summer theater and arts festival, dedicated this year to Callas and the century since her birth in Manhattan on Dec. 2, 1923. She died of a heart attack at her home in Paris at age 53. Officially known as the Athens-Epidaurus Festival, the summer concerts and plays are also held at the ancient theater of Epidaurus, the UNESCO world heritage site in southern Greece. Much of the program was chosen to complement the centenary celebrations. Ticket sales from June performances by an opera world power couple, French tenor Roberto Alagna and Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, will help fund the planned summer opening of a Callas Museum in central Athens, according to festival artistic director Katerina Evangelatos. “It’s all part of the year’s celebrations marking the 100 years ... since the birth of the great diva of opera,” Evangelatos said. Finally free of constraints imposed by the pandemic, the festival has been expanded this year to include new venues and additional collaboration with overseas artists, festivals and theater companies. Organizers also created a new online platform to help Greek performers seek opportunities abroad. “One of the main objectives of the festival has always been to be outward-looking,” Evangelatos told reporters during a recent presentation of this year’s festival. “We don’t want to just bring artists from abroad, we want to build collaboration and relationships.” The lineup this year includes the superstar Chinese pianist Lang Lang, the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, classical pianist and conductor Christoph Eschenbach and the pioneering German electronic band Kraftwerk, as well as a performance by Icelandic band Sigur Ros with the London Contemporary Orchestra. The Greek National Opera produced “Madame Butterfly,” choosing French director Olivier Py and the Italian choreographer Daniel Izzo. The title role was given to soprano Anna Sohn, who on Thursday gave the first of four scheduled performances. Sohn partnered with Italian tenor Andrea Carè for a sparse interpretation of the Italian classic, featuring giant helium-filled balloons, dancers in head-to-toe white makeup and time-bending backdrops that included scenes of Japan’s World War II nuclear devastation and modern banner ads for major U.S. commercial brands. Publicist Constance Shuman, who promotes the work of the Greek National Opera in the United States, said a performance by the company was a fitting start for the festival in the year marking what would have been Callas’ 100th birthday. Born Maria Kalogeropoulos, the singer made her professional debut with the GNO in Athens as an 18-year-old student. “When she became internationally known, she always came back here, and she really is emblematic of what this opera company is about,” Shuman said. “This is the opening of the Maria Callas year, but her early years are not known about by a lot of people,” she said. “So this is a chance to tell people about how Greece and the Greek National Opera contributed to her becoming Maria Callas.”    

MATHAME, the melodic techno duo will bring unique sounds to the dancefloor, captivating audiences worldwide. This one-of-a-kind event will take you on a sensory journey through sight and sound as you immerse yourself in a harmonious fusion of music, light and visual effects. Get ready to get transported to a world where music & technology come together to create a truly unforgettable experience.   Mathame is a DJ and producer duo from Italy, consisting of brothers Amedeo and Matteo Giovanelli. They gained international recognition with their 2018 release "Nothing Around Us" on Tale Of Us' label, Afterlife. Known for their unique blend of techno and melodic sounds, Mathame has made a big impact in the global electronic music scene. Mathame is a talented and innovative duo that continues to push the boundaries of electronic music, both in the studio and on the dancefloor. Their partnership with Afterlife has been a fruitful one, and they remain an integral part of the label's roster of talented artists.   P+US is the leading electronic dance music entity in Egypt & the Middle East. For the past 4 years, P+US has been putting together the most assorted electronic talent with state-of-the-art technologies, leading to massive events with outstanding production. It's not just an event organizer, P+US is a community. A latest & highly impressive example is the collaboration with CERCLE in Luxor, Hatshepsut Temple with guest DJs Adriatique. La Luz is Athens premium club event series. Since its launch in 2019 it has hosted the world’s most well – known DJs as well as Greece’s hottest names. The eclectic music selection, wild dancers and colorful decor are giving to La Luz a unique, exotic aesthetic unlike anything else in Greece. We deliver high-end club shows featuring world-renowned DJs in Athens, putting our hometown in the global map. At La Luz we pride ourselves with creating a carefully curated experience that brings healthy clubbers and like-minded music lovers together on a dance floor full of joy.   Doors open: 22:30 For reservations contact here: +306980756951 +306947848851   €27.05 - €75.72 .  https://ticketsadvisor.rsrvd.it/events/46037?fbclid=IwAR11UTLMWZdh_6W20ks1tX6njv0BKnacmQwbEpI1a2fCzF31JLpuvy_Pp3M.   Location: FEVER Lagoumitzi 25, Athens 117 45

Liverpool is hosting on behalf of Ukraine, which won the contest last with Kalush Orchestra’s “Stefania.” Ukraine was unable to stage the event this year, as the winner usually does, because of Russia’s invasion. Britain, which came second, is promising to combine the creativity of Ukraine and the UK under the banner “United by Music.”   Who will compete? There are 37 countries taking part with 31 competing in two semi-finals and 10 going through to the Grand Final. Ukraine, as the previous winner, automatically progresses to the Grand Final, along with the “big five,” comprising the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Who is Greece’s entry   Victor Vernicos who will perform his original song “What They Say” in the second semi-final on Thursday. Aged 16, local Instagram sensation Vernicos is the youngest-ever contestant to represent Greece at the competition. When are the semi-finals? Tuesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 11 at 10 p.m. (Greek time). Who competes in semi-final one? Norway, Malta, Serbia, Latvia, Portugal, Ireland, Croatia, Switzerland, Israel, Moldova, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Czechia, Netherlands, Finland Who competes in semi-final two? Denmark, Armenia, Romania, Estonia, Belgium, Cyprus, Iceland, Greece, Poland, Slovenia, Georgia, San Marino, Austria, Albania, Lithuania, Australia When is the grand final? Saturday, May 13 at 10 p.m. (Greek time). Who competes in the grand final? Previous winner Ukraine, host United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, plus the top 10 from each semi-final How does the voting work? Viewers at home will determine the outcome of the two semi-finals. Viewers and professional juries vote in the Grand Final. Semi-final 1: viewers in the 15 countries taking part are eligible to vote, alongside France, Germany, and Italy. Semi-final 2: Viewers in the 16 countries taking part are eligible to vote, alongside Spain, Ukraine, and the UK. In a new development, viewers from non-participating countries around the world will also be able to vote, and will have the weight of one additional voting country. Grand Final: Juries from all 37 countries allocate points 1-8, 10 and 12 to 10 acts, excluding their own country, based on performances in the second dress reversal on Friday. The audience votes from each country, based on the live Grand Final, are used to allocate the same scale of points, with the rest of the world counting for one additional country. A total of 2,146 points are available from the juries are and 2,204 from the audience votes. Who will host the grand final? Graham Norton, the host of an eponymous chat show on BBC television and Britain’s usual Eurovision commenter. Alesha Dixon, a British television personality and pop singer. Julia Sanina, front woman of Ukrainian rock band The Hardkiss. Hanna Waddingham, a star of musical theatre and television.

The gothic thriller has been digitally restored – and approved by the legendary filmmaker – to mark the 30th anniversary since its original release, and stars Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. Admission costs 7 Euros and doors open at 22:00.

An anthology of Greek poetry set to music, with Manolis Mitsias and Karyofyllia Karabeti. Joined by an ensemble of 8 musicians, the artists will present a program that includes Greek repertory gems from this genre. On the occasion of the World Poetry Day, Manolis Mitsias and Karyofyllia Karabeti travel around the magical world of Greek poetry, presenting at Megaron works of great Greek poets and lyricists, set to music by composers Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis, Yannis Markopoulos,  Stavros Xarchakos, Dimos Moutsis, Ilias Andriopoulos, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Christos Leontis, Giannis Spanos and Nikos Xydakis. Manolis Mitsias will also perform songs from Manos Hadjidakis’ song cycles Tis Gis to Hrysafi (The Earth’s Gold), Athanasia (Immortality) and Heimoniatikos Ilios (Winter Sun). The lyrics of the songs to be performed  are from poems by: Dionysios Solomos, Kostis Palamas, Angelos Sikelianos, Konstantinos P. Kavafis, Kostas Varnalis, Napoleon Lapathiotis, Kostas Karyotakis, Yorgos  Seferi, Odysseas Elytis, Yiannis Ritsos, Myrtiotis, Tassos Livaditis, Manolis Anagnostakis, Nikos Kavvadias, Nikos Gatsos, Iakovos Kambanellis and others. Dates & Times Tuesday 21.03.2023, 20:30 Ticket Prices €9.00 students, young people, unemployed, persons with disabilities, families having many children, 65+ €12.00 €18.00 €26.00 €32.00 €38.00 €45.00   Address: Vas. Sofias & Kokkali 115 21 Athens Email: webmaster@megaron.gr Telephone: +30 210 7282000 Tickets: +30 210 7282333  

The venue is the ELIART Theater in Gazi (127 Konstantinoupoleos). Doors open at 20:00 and the show starts at 21:00. Tickets (available at www.viva.gr/tickets/theater/liz-miele-murder-sheets/) cost € 18,00 online and € 25,00 at the door. People with disabilities and the unemployed can get three free tickets by making a phone reservation at +306987994689.

More than 2,000 people took part in the demonstration, on the second day of a 48-hour strike to protest changes in a government labor qualification system used to set wage scales and for civil service recruitment. “People have spent years on the job, teaching and in performance roles, and suddenly they do not know what their qualifications are worth,” singer Argyro Kaparou, who heads one of the associations organizing the protest, told the AP. Strike organizers say they want the government to pause the reforms until a general election is held sometime before the summer. The center-right government says it wants to streamline government hiring procedures before the elections.     (Students from drama and arts schools gather during a protest outside parliament in Athens, Greece on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. Performing artists and arts students are striking for a second day, closing theatres, halting television shoots and disrupting art school classes, to protest charges in the qualification system of civil service jobs. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)