The Mayor of Athens, Mr. George Kaminis announced the schedule of events to take place for the celebration of Christmas and the New Year. There will be more than 230 events to celebrate Christmas – all coordinated by the Department of Culture, Sports and Youth the Technopolis of the municipality of Athens.
Mr. Kaminis remarked that he felt quite moved since this would be his last Christmas, serving as Mayor of the Capital.
Angels which have been crafted by major Greek artists, will be placed at the Town Hall in Athens and many other points of interest.
On the 11th December: the official lighting of the city will take place; at 19:00hrs, Mr. Kaminis will be lighting the magnificent Christmas tree at Constitution Square. The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens will take partin the celebration. The celebration will continue with Penny Baltatzi, the Athens Big Band and the dance show – “Angels in the City”.
Mr. Kaminis said in his speech: “we have joined forces with many groups, individuals and organizations who share a love for their city and despite the difficult times we are experiencing, we have managed to turn things around. From a very early stage we realized that by investing in the culture of our city, we contribute to its sustainability and social coherence and moreover attract more visitors to our city, consequently creating more job opportunities and thus assisting in the financial status of the Capital.
The Chairman of the Organization of Culture, Sports and Youth (OPANDA), remarked on their ability to organize high quality celebrations at a lower cost than that of previous years. He moreover announced that the Old Lyric Stage will by functioning again as “Olympia Municipal Theatre Maria Callas” and will host a great many musical and artistic events, thus bringing this part of the city to life once again. In fact on Christmas day a special event will take place with music and a feature on Leonard Cohen’s “There is a crack in everything, that is how the light gets in”.
On the 21st December – the longest night of the year, a celebration will be held with Mr. K Vita at the National Observatory. The sound of music will echo from the Hill of the Nymphs at 18:00hrs.
From the 22nd through to the 30th December, many musical events – tribute and jazz – will take place just under the magnificent Christmas tree. The highlight of these events will be the Glasshouse, the popular musical project which will take place on the 29th and 30th of December in collaboration with the Dutch Embassy. Radio stations and DJs will be giving the rhythm and they invite us all to attend since the proceeds of this project will all go to charity.
31st December – The changing of the year will be celebrated at Thiseon with Vasilis Charalambopoulos, Katerina Kouka, Themis Karamouratides and Christina Mazouri. With a marvelous view of the Acropolis, we will be saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new. The Municipal Philharmonic Orchestra will be accompanying many performers, artists and a magical atmosphere is guaranteed.
Dancing at Monastiraki from the 22nd of December; dance groups will be performing at Monastiraki Square, dancing to the rhythm of swing and rock ‘n roll.
The symbols which adorned the city last year will be placed at designated areas this year again – the tree with the butterflies at Korai Square, the Barrel at St.Panteleimona and all the rest which decorated our city the previous year.
Last but not least, the figures of angels which were created by distinguished artists like Achilleas Charitos and Cacao Rocks will “fly” us all with their wings and take us to a place to remind us that we, ourselves are the angels of our own lives and it is up to us to bring love, which is the greatest power of all into our lives once again and fill it with all that is good and beautiful.
