Athens City Festival: Fitness Sessions and Cultural Events Until May 26

Theatre of the No. Photo source: This is Athens Festival

With summer just around the corner, the 3rd This is Athens – City Festival once again invites residents and visitors to enjoy cultural events and parties, transforming public markets, parks, and museums.

Over the past few weeks, the festival showcased some of the most important places in the city through musical performances, gastronomy events, museum exhibitions, and a traditional panigyri in the heart of Athens.

This week, the program’s highlights include culinary sessions, a cultural film festival, a technology exhibition, and fitness/cultural activities for children and adults.

This week’s highlights

Photo source: This is Athens Festival

The events of the week will introduce visitors to the diverse religious environment of the city, Greek traditions, and folklore readings, as well as to Athens’ rich history through walking tours of central streets and archaeological sites.

Monday, May 20

– The Last Lunch at Athens newest English-speaking theater, Theatre of the No, 8 p.m.: Theatre of the No, Athens newest English-speaking theater, presents “The Last Lunch”, a musical tragicomedy written by Yoel Wulfhart, directed by Manos Tsotras, and with music composed by Ian Blunsdon.

– Food & Wine Museum Sessions: Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, 8.30 p.m.: The event will take place at the museum’s restaurant, on the magnificent rooftop of the Koumbari Street neoclassical building, featuring a fine dining menu paired with selected Greek wines.

– Pepper Church Sessions: Dalene, Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, 8.30 p.m.: Radio station Pepper 96.6 presents Pepper Church Sessions, the atmospheric concerts at Saint Paul’s Anglican Church in downtown Athens. Dalene, one of the most active bands in the new Greek pop scene, brings their modern romance into an immersive setting with a mystifying live set specially designed for the building’s ambience.

– La Saramuya: Monastiraki, Monastiraki Square, 7 p.m.: La Saramuya is a mobile sound system that is handmade and colorful, like those found in Latin America at carnivals. The popular Latin instrument will be at Monastiraki to entertain music lovers with the sounds of salsa, cumbia, mambo, samba, soca, zouk, dembow, dancehall, champeta, soukous, and great vibes for a unique afternoon.

Tuesday, May 21

International Archaeological and Cultural Film Festival. Photo source: This is Athens Festival

– 12th International Archaeological and Cultural Film Festival, Day 2, Greek Film Archive: The 12th edition of the AGON International Archaeological and Cultural Film Festival celebrates its 28th anniversary with selected films. Therefore, from May 20 to May 25, 61 films from 22 countries will be screened at the Greek Film Archive.

– Fairytales at the Square: Taxiarchis Beligiannis, Kalliga Square, 7.30 p.m.: Beligiannis has dedicated his life to the exploration of fairy tales that continue to circulate around Greece and will be in Athens to share them with kids.

Wednesday, May 22

Photo source: This is Athens Festival

– Culture, Well-being, & New Technologies for the Sustainable Cities of Tomorrow: Collaborative Initiatives between Businesses & Government, Serafeio Athletic & Community Complex, 10.00 a.m. to 2 p.m.: This unique gathering targets representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises and startups involved in culture, well-being, sustainability, and the broader development of smart cities.

– Fitness Fun @ Parko Eleftherias, Eleftherias Park, 7.30 to 9.30 p.m.: With the specialized coach Vassiliki Sarparki, the event is open to the public and will take place in the heart of Athens in one of the most popular green spots of the city.

– 2nd Accessible-to-All Stand Up Comedy Festival, Serafeio Athletic & Community Complex, 8 p.m.: For the second consecutive year, the Cool Crips host an inclusive stand-up comedy festival featuring the crème de la crème of the Greek scene.

Thursday, May 23

Photo source: This is Athens Festival

– Guided Tour to the Numismatic Museum, Numismatic Museum, 11.30 a.m.: Established in 1834, the Numismatic Museum features over 600,000 exhibits from ancient Greece and Rome, the Byzantine Empire, eastern civilizations, medieval and modern Europe, America, and the modern Greek state.

– The Magic of the Cantada in the Streets of Plaka, Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments “Foivos Anogianakis”, 8 p.m.: In a musical walk through the narrow streets of Plaka, the Karaviotis Brothers, in collaboration with the museum, will reveal the spectacle of the Cantada.

– In the Same City: Christians and Jews in Thessaloniki, Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy, 1 p.m.: The foundation participates in the This is Athens—City Festival with guided tours of the exhibition “In the same city: Christians and Jews in Thessaloniki.”

Friday, May 24

Photo source: This is Athens Festival

– 5th Crime Fiction Festival, Serafeio Athletic & Community Complex: From May 24 to 26, the Crime Fiction Festival welcomes for one more year the lovers of the genre as part of the Athens City Festival with book presentations, creative writing workshops, children’s events, lectures, debates, tributes to distinguished authors, theatrical performances, film screenings, documentaries, story workshops, and interactive games.

– Can the Museum trigger the whole family’s imagination?, Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, 2.45 to 4.30 p.m.: Two parallel interactive tours of the B&E Goulandris Foundation Collection for adults and children aged 5+. During the tours, families will visit the four floors of the museum’s permanent collection to hear about the works of art that are on display.

– Music Sessions @ Platia Attikis, Attikis Square, 5.30 p.m.: Reverb takes over the square, starting with a live performance by Agia Fanfara and a number of popular emerging artists to celebrate a less-explored part of the city.

Saturday, May 25

Photo source: This is Athens Festival

– Athens History Walks: Pangrati during the Occupation, Pangrati, 11 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.: A historical stroll in Pangrati transports participants to the WWII era. Starting with the arrival of the Asia Minor refugees, we attempt to examine the character of the neighborhood, the people who lived there, and their relationships with the new inhabitants.

– Athens Cocktail Week, Various Locations in the City Center: The Athens Cocktail Week once again brings its vibes to Athens’ amazing bar scene, which includes five of the 100 best bars in the world. For one week, from May 25 to June 6, the bars participating will offer a special menu with two cocktails made especially for the festival.

– 5.500 years of urban planning history at a glance, Intersection of Iraklidon and Erisichthonos streets, 5.50 to 8 p.m.: This experiential look into the past begins with the remains of the ancient wall and ends at the peaceful necropolis of Keramikos, unfolding step by step the centuries-old urban history of Athens in a walk full of twists and turns.

– This is Afrobanana x Athens, Dimitris Beis Park, 5.30 to 11 p.m.: music, art, and food with the label Made in Cyprus. The event showcases Cypriot culture through live performances by leading Cypriot artists such as Monsieur Doumani, Julio Komboloi, Vanesha, Afrofox, and others.

Sunday, May 26

Button-making workshop. Photo source: This is Athens Festival

– Routes in Byzantine and Ottoman Athens, Kapnikarea Church, 5.45 to 8 p.m.: Discover the Byzantine and Ottoman history of the city and learn the stories of its people, institutions, and habits.

– Button-making workshop, Hellenic Children’s Museum, 11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.: At the Hellenic Children’s Museum, visitors will get inspired by the exhibits and collections to create wonderful buttons. The workshop is aimed at families with children aged 4–12 years.

– Shedia Home Street Party, Shedia Home, 7 to 11 p.m.: Shedia is the city’s first street magazine and a leading organization that supports social inclusion by giving the city’s homeless a means to take back their lives. Celebrating 11 action-packed years, the magazine takes over the pedestrian streets around Shedia Home, aiming to connect people and build a more resilient society.

As an initiative of the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency (ADDMA), all the festival’s events are free of charge, while the majority of them will only be available in Greek. More information on the This is Athens—City Festival 2024 program of events is available here: https://cityfestival.thisisathens.org/en/home/

The cultural environment of Athens is also enriched by the Technopolis summer program of events, featuring famous Greek and foreign artists taking the stage from May to September.