The second annual Athens City Festival is currently taking place until the end of May is bigger than ever before, with over 200 events spread across 129 neighbourhoods in the city.
Organized by the Municipality of Athens, this year’s Athens City Festival will offer a wondrously diverse range of activities for visitors and Athenians of all ages, including events revolving around culture, entertainment, sports, gastronomy and more. In a collaboration between the Athens Development and Tourism Promotion Company (EATP) collaborated and various groups and organizations such as public and private museums, galleries, cultural institutions, civil society groups, musicians, singers, and educators, the event promises the public a month of novel and exciting activities.
This year’s festival (cityfestival.thisisathens.org) will feature high-quality events such as underground routes through the city’s tunnels and shelters, outdoor street parties, guided tours and walks around the city’s squares, streets, and museums, concerts, bike rides, and numerous activities for children. There will be music from Greek and international artists performing in unexpected locations throughout Athens.
There will also be open-air cinema screenings in parks, skateboarding tournaments, DJ sets in unexpected locations and astronomical tours of Athens’ mythical hills. Discover some of the most unmissable events taking place at the Athens City Festival 2023:
Revolution 21 (1-30/5)
To celebrate the bicentenary of the Greek Revolution, the National Historical Museum presents “Revolution 21: Reframed”, a nationwide programme showcasing the ideas, causes, people, events, and impact of the Revolution. The interactive and audiovisual exhibits of the main exhibition, located in the upper floor gallery of the Old Parliament Building, bring relics preserved by the museum to life.
Cinematic Orchestra Live at Kotzia Square (6/5, 21:20)
The Cinematic Orchestra (www.cinematicorchestra.com) masterfully blends film music with electronic sound. They will be performing in Kotzia Square, in front of Athens City Hall, and will revisit their discography in the largest concert they have ever performed in Greece.
From Earth to Sky, Athens Observatory (4/5, 11/5, 18/5, 25/5, 19:00)
An archaeological and astronomical journey through the hills surrounding the National Observatory of Athens (www.noa.gr) during the twilight hours on the western hills of the Acropolis, Pnyx, Nymphs, and Philopappos (Muses. The tour will culminate in the observation of celestial objects through the lens of the historic Doridis telescope, atop the Pnyx hill.
Theseus Missing: Treasure Hunt on the Athens Hills (6/5)
Join a thrilling treasure hunt back to Ancient Greece to help King Aegeus find his missing son Theseus. Using the Narratologies app, solve riddles and follow stories while meeting guides in the search for Theseus.
Underground Athens, Shelters and Catacombs (7/5, 21/5)
From springs and streams that survive flowing through old galleries beneath central roads, remnants of World War II, ruins of Roman baths and Byzantine ossuaries, and catacombs with tunnels from ancient aqueducts, we get to explore a magical underground world for the first time, with speleologist Panagiotis Deuteraeos as our guide.
Urban Picnic on Tositsa Pedestrian Street (14/5)
This mini-festival taking place on Tositsa Street will feature renowned DJs and producers who will provide the musical backdrop for a special picnic featuring street food trucks, cocktail stands, book readings and workshops for children.
6th Athens Street Food Festival, Old OSY Depot (12-14/5)
Since it launched in 2016, the Athens Street Food Festival’s huge success sparked an entire movement, with countless restaurants and chefs now offering their own street food. Visitors can sample many exclusives and original ideas from around the world.
Pop-Up Ice Cream Market, Kypseli Municipal Market (28/5)
Try some of the best in Greek ice cream at a unique pop-up event at the Kypseli Municipal Market. Recipes from the past, modern techniques and unexpected flavours from old and new producers will combine.
Greek Cinema Nights, Eleftherias Park (22-25/5)
The city’s open-air cinema culture comes to Eleftherias Park, in screenings of the best moments from both contemporary and classic Greek films.
Queer Movie Nights, Goethe-Institut (18/5)
May 17th is globally recognised as the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, Biphobia, and Interphobia (IDAHOBIT). This year, the team behind Antivirus magazine is organising its second three-day LGBTQI+ film festival, while on May 18th, the Goethe-Institut will host free screenings of three films.
Omonia Lovers: Photographic Exhibition (11 – 14/05)
The Omonia Lovers photo group uses cameras with traditional film, digital cameras, and mobile phones to capture and present what most people fail to see when crossing the centre of Athens.
22nd Athens Jazz Festival, Technopolis Municipality of Athens (22-29/5)
The Athens City Festival will be including the city’s longest-running music tradition, the (70-day-long this year) Athens Jazz Festival, in this year’s program. The annual festival, which started in 2001, has free admission and presents a diverse range of internationally recognised jazz bands and groups from every corner of the planet, attracting over 6,000 visitors daily.
Street Outdoors Party, Lykavittos Parking Lot (28/5)
Street Outdoors, the most famous street party in the country, is teaming up with the Athens City Festival and taking off at the Lykavittos parking lot, with its exquisite panoramic views of Athens.
The Katakouzenos House Guided Tour (24/5)
The Katakouzenos House played a significant role in the intellectual life of Athens, as the former owners, Angelos and Leto Katakouzenos, were part of the intellectual elite known as the “generation of the 30s”, who represented Greek culture while abroad and collected works by top Greek and international artists of their time.
Read also:
Street Art in Athens – The Urban Culture of the City on its Walls
