Teleporio™ — Greek Island Travel Intelligence

Athens Cultural Events & Festivals

The complete guide to Athens cultural events. Athens Epidaurus Festival, Herodes Atticus concerts, open-air cinema, Greek music, opera and how to find what's on.

Athens Cultural Events — The Definitive Guide

Athens has one of the richest cultural calendars in the Mediterranean, centred on the annual Athens Epidaurus Festival — a three-month programme of drama, dance, and music held at the Herodes Atticus Odeon in Athens and the ancient theatre at Epidaurus. The festival runs from June to September and brings international and Greek performers to stages that were built for exactly this purpose two thousand years ago. Attending a performance of Sophocles at Epidaurus, or a concert by a major Greek artist at Herodes Atticus, is not a tourist experience — it is one of the reasons to be in Greece.

Open-Air Cinema — The Theriná Sinematográfoi

Athens has the finest open-air cinema culture in Europe. From May to October, the theriná — the summer open-air cinemas — operate across the city in converted courtyards, on rooftops, in parks and gardens. The Cine Thirio in Pagrati, the Aigli in the Zappeion gardens, and several others screen a mix of new releases and classics under the stars. The experience — warm evening, jasmine in the air, a cold drink, a film projected on a white wall — is one of the defining pleasures of an Athens summer.

Greek Music and the Live Scene

The live Greek music scene operates on a calendar that runs counter to the tourist season. The major laika and rebetika concerts happen in winter — October to March — when the rebetika clubs in Psyrri and Monastiraki are at their most alive. Summer brings the festival circuit: Lycabettus Theatre, Technopolis in Gazi, and the major open-air stages. Understanding which type of music you are looking for — rembetika, laika, folk, classical, or the contemporary scene — determines where and when to look.