The “Summer in Athens” Festival, featuring 79 cultural events in the Greek capital this summer, has commenced, with easy access for everyone and every age group. All of the events will offer free admission. Slated to last until July 25, Summer in Athens is the first of four festivals that Athens Municipality OPANDA (Culture, Sports & Youth Organization) has scheduled from June to October.

On his part, Athens Mayor Haris Doukas said the “Summer in Athens” marks the beginning of this year’s seasonal cultural program by the municipality of Athens, and it’s richer than ever. Our aim is to bring culture to every corner of the city, filling squares, museums, cultural venues, and parks. We strive for equal and unrestricted access for all. We want to transform every neighborhood of Athens into a hub of culture, highlighting the outdoor cultural urban landscape. Our museums and exhibition spaces should be open to everyone, fostering outreach initiatives and cultivating stable relationships with citizens through knowledge, entertainment, interaction, and participation.”

Athens Municipality Symphony Orchestra

The Summer in Athens Festival hosts beloved artists and musical groups who bring a world of music traditions and cultures to 53 locations around the city. All events offer free admission and feature a variety of genres, including traditional music (rebetiko and folk music), jazz, rock, and contemporary music. Additionally, there will be musical tributes to significant Greek composers (such as Thanos Mikroutsikos and Notis Mavroudis), lyricists (Lina Nikolakopoulou and Paraskevas Karasoulos), renowned female vocalists (Rosa Eskenazi, Stella Haskil, and Marika Ninou), and Greek cinema.

Furthermore “Ethnic evenings” featuring traditional folk dances and music from Greek islands and western Asia Minor, as well as tango and Latin dance evenings are also included.

‘The Greek Music Workshop’ at the National Garden

World Music Day 2024, Friday, June 21

World Music Day will be celebrated with a variety of open-air musical performances:

At 11:30 am, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Athens will have a music stroll at Monastiraki Square.

At 7 pm, jazz singer Alex Affolter and the “Athens Big Band” (composed of brass instruments and percussion) will perform jazz classics in the National Garden.

At 8 pm, “The Greek Music Workshop” will host a concert featuring melodies by famous Greek composers such as Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, Stavros Xarchakos, and Dionysis Savopoulos, while the Athens Municipality Symphony Orchestra will perform at a different location within the National Garden.

Simultaneously, at 8 pm, the NKUA’s Department of Music Studies band, Music Odyssey, will give a concert at the “Propylaea” (the central building of the University of Athens, NKUA).

You may find the detailed program here: https://www.opanda.gr/images/Programma_entypo_2024.pdf

Highlights of the “Summer in Athens” Festival

20/06

Athens Municipality Symphony Orchestra, soloist: Giorgos Panagiotopoulos (violin), Conductor: Konstantinos Terzakis, National Garden, 8pm

Frog String Trio – “Jazzy Strings, Funky Bows”, Santarosa Square, 9pm

21/06

Music stroll by Athens Municipality Philharmonic Orchestra, Monastiraki Square at 11:30 am

Music stroll by Athens Municipality Philharmonic Orchestra, Zappeion Hall at 18:30

“Athens Big Band” with Alex Affolter, National Garden at 7pm

“The Greek Music Workshop”, National Garden at 8pm

Music Odyssey (NKUA’s Department of Music Studies), Propylaea (University of Athens) at 8pm

22/06

Vangelis and Vasilis Korakakis (rebetiko, folk music) Spyrou Patsi and Agias Markellas str., Votanikos at 9pm

25/06

Manolis Famellos, Stathis Drogosis, and Odysseas Tsakalos at Fokionos Negri (Kypseli square) at 9pm

Manolis Famellos, Stathis Drogosis, and Odysseas Tsakalos

26/06

“Love”, a concert by Doros Demosthenous and his band, Plateia Dexamenis (Dexameni Square) at 9pm

27/06

Maria Papageorgiou & band, Square Amvrosiou Plyta at 9pm

1/07

Greek Shadow Theater (Karagiozis) at Victoria Square 8:30pm

2/07

Katerina Tsiridou, Afentoula Razeli, and Vasilis Prodromou (Greek music) Lambrakis Hill at 9pm

3/07

Penny Baltatzi: “We Dance with Our Souls” (contemporary Greek music) Plateia Dexamenis (Dexameni Square) at 9pm

Latin-Greco: a tribute by Athens’ Municipal Choir, the “Mandolinata of Exarchia-Neapolis Dionysios Lavragas,” and the Athens Estudiantinato featuring songs by Greek composers in rumba, samba and mambo rhythms, Victoria Square at 9pm

4/07

Christos Thivaios, Fokionos Negri (Kypseli Square)

7/07

Sokratis Sinopoulos – Vasilis Kostas DUO (musical bridges between lyre and lute instruments as well as between Mediterranean musical traditions and contemporary improvisation), Agion Asomaton Square, Thiseio at 9pm

9/07

“Chainides” musical group (Cretan folk music) Lambrakis Hill at 9pm

10/07

Athens Municipality Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vyron Fidetzis at the Benaki Museum atrium (Pireos 138) at 9pm

15/07

Eleni Tsaligopoulou – Live Summer 2024 at Kolonos Theater at 9pm

16/07

Elli Paspala: “Summer Nights Are Coming” at Kolonos Theater at 9pm

17/07

Rita Antonopoulou and Revans band in a tribute to Greek composer Thanos Mikroutsikos, Kolonos Theater at 9pm

19/07

Anastasia Moutsatsou, George Tossikian, Stavros Niforatos, and Stelios Katsatsidis in a tribute to Notis Mavroudis at Kolonos Theater