Open-air screenings, concerts, musical events, as well as special parties for the longest night of the year.
The City of Athens wants to transform the city these days into a fairytale setting, filled with melodies, light, magic and surprises. Open-air screenings and drive-in cinema at the most beautiful spots, concerts, musical events and performances in squares, streets, museums, theaters and cultural centers, along with ten distinctive parties for the longest night of the year, will set the rhythm of Christmas.
Three days of atmospheric outdoor screenings
On Saturday, December 28, «The Grand Budapest Hotel» («The Grand Budapest Hotel», 2014) by Wes Anderson offers a thrilling drive-in experience, in collaboration with En Lefko 87.7, at the parking lot of the Lycabettus Municipal Theater with a view of festively decorated Athens.
On Sunday, December 29, in the outdoor area of Athens Book Space at Eleftherias Park, the Norwegian film «Christmas on Cobbler Street» («Christmas on Cobbler Street», 2023), aimed at children aged 10 and up, will be screened in collaboration with the Athens International Childrens and Youth Film Festival and with the support of the Embassy of Norway.
The festive three-day cinema run concludes on Monday, December 30, at Mitropolis Square, with the classic Christmas romantic comedy «Love Actually» («Love Actually», 2003) in collaboration with the Greek streaming platform Cinobo.
The screenings are free to attend, while the seat reservation process for the drive-in on Lycabettus will be announced on the channels of Culture Is Athens and En Lefko 87.7.
The city celebrates the longest night of the year - December 21
On Saturday, December 21, Athens transforms into a vibrant stage of art and music, on the occasion of the longest night of the year and the This is Athens - City Festival of the City of Athens. On Protogenous Street, from 17:00 until midnight, an outdoor stage will be set up dedicated to the contemporary Greek alternative scene with DJ sets and happenings, and at Agios Andreas Square in Lambrini with representatives of the Greek electronic scene from ENTEKA Athens.
At Gyzi Square, George Apergis and the Reverb Sessions prepare a lively party with electronic sounds, while on Fokionos Negri the radio station Melodia 99.2 invites you to an art music evening with its new live band and music selections from the stations producers.
At Agios Panteleimonas Square, the music ensemble De Profundis presents works by leading classical composers, while on Haritos pedestrian street in Kolonaki, Athens Voice revives its legendary street party. At Syntagma metro station, Chores impress with their polyphonic performance, while at the Dragatsaniou arcade EnLefko 87.7 offers a unique DJ set with top DJs (Laternative, Eva Theotokatou and Giorgos Bakalakos).
The evening continues with a piano recital on Ermou and culminates at the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre «Maria Callas», where Kosmos 93.6 presents Giorgis Christodoulou and a late-night party.
Music everywhere: Athens fills with melodies
Syntagma Square is the epicenter of the Christmas events this year by the City of Athens. From December 12 to 22, it will be flooded with sounds from the radio station Easy 97.2.
The festive live shows on the stage begin on Tuesday, December 24 with Doros Demosthenous and his band. On Christmas Day, Wednesday, December 25, artists back to back take on entertaining the audience. In the morning the Athenian Mandolinata Nikolaos Lavdas, at midday MΟb Trio with electronic jazz, and on Christmas afternoon the subversive singer and performer Panos Mouzourakis together with his band in a soaring musical show.
The morning of Thursday, December 26, is dedicated to children with a musical performance by the Zamominia, then the jazz band To Pragma followed by Idra Kayne with soul and funk melodies, and Mikro in their much-anticipated and highly explosive comeback on stage.
The climax of the live music at Syntagma comes on the eve of the New Year, when we will welcome the new year with the musical and theatrical «time machine» of Foivos Delivorias and his «Terrace of Time», with the participation of Natassa Bofiliou, Thanasis Alevras, Martha Frintzila, a large orchestra of dancers and new voices, who present live a musical and theatrical time machine that will traverse the entire History of Athens from 1945 to 2025, through songs, dances, projections and humorous theatrical vignettes.
Distinctive musical experiences across the city are offered by the City of Athens Philharmonic Orchestra, from December 13 until early 2025, at spots around the city with Christmas melodies, and the van of the radio station Athina 9.84, which until December 21 will park from Syntagma and Ermou to Agios Panteleimonas and Kypseli.
From Sunday, December 15, more music at the Maria Callas Museum, the City of Athens Cultural Center «Melina», the Kypseli Municipal Market, the Museum of Folk Art and Tradition «Angeliki Hatzimichali», the Athens Book Space in Eleftherias Park and the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre «Maria Callas» with the famous Viennese operetta by Johann Strauss the Younger, «Die Fledermaus» (from December 19 to January 4), two «Rosarte of Musicals» concerts and the Athens Big Band, which meets two distinguished international artists, Veronica Mortensen and Niels HP, for a sparkling evening with Christmas hues (December 30).
