Andrea Bocelli to Perform at Halkidiki’s Sani Festival 2022 

The Sani Festival in Halkidiki will be celebrating its 30-year anniversary with a special performance by the world’s beloved tenor, Andrea Bocelli.

Every summer, from July to August, Sani Festival at Sani Resort brings together Greek and international artists. Set in glorious open-air surroundings of the natural amphitheatre surrounding the castle ruins upon Sani Hill, this unique location provides the perfect atmospheric arena that holds up to 3,000 guests.

Insights Greece - Andrea Bocelli to Perform at Halkidiki's Sani Festival 2022 
World’s leading tenor Andrea Bocelli

Rooted in jazz, the first Sani Festival took place in 1992 and since then, the programme has diversified and the venues expanded to accommodate a wide programme of music and performing arts, from classical music to modern dance and musical theatre. 

“This year, 2022, we’ll be honouring the history of the Festival, celebrating its 30th anniversary with a wonderful range of performances including Andrea Bocelli, who will put his signature on the last day of the celebratory Sani Festival on August 20th, the most anticipated music event of the summer! Recognised as an icon of the greatest Italian vocal tradition, he has managed to bring classical music to the top of the global charts, with albums like Romanza, Sacred Arias, Sì and Believe,” announced the organisers of the event this week. 

From July 9 through to August 20, there will be a range of top-class concerts with some of the world’s best artists on stage from the jazz, pop and rock genre, including renowned musician Bob Geldof and the Bobkatz, Afro-Cuban artists Chuco Valdés and Paquito D’Rivera, beloved artist and a Greek audience favourite, Jack Savoretti; as well as leading Greek performers such as Manolis Mitsias, Christos Thivaios, Eleni Tsaligopoulou, Penni Baltatzi Dimitris Basis, Rena Morfi, Doros Dimosthenous, Rita Antonopoulou, Kostas Thomaidis and Kalliopi Pouska.

“This musical embrace of the Mediterranean is a tribute to Sani Festival in Halkidiki, which has always celebrated multiculturalism in music. With performances in Greek and foreign languages, the programme features songs much loved in our country and abroad,” conclude the event’s organisers. 

For more details head to Sani Festival 2022

Athens Street Food Festival 2022 Taking Place Throughout May

Throughout the month of May, Greece’s largest food festival will have its doors open in the cool neighbourhood of Gazi, as talented chefs prepare to serve visitors some of the most popular Greek “street food” and other enticing recipes from around the world. 

On the 6-7-8, 13-14-15, 20-21-22, as well as the 27-28-29th of May, the 5th edition of the Athens Food Festival will take place at one of Athens’ old depot stations, with the entire space being filled with stalls offering a range of casual international cuisine. 

Having hosted over 400,000 visitors so far (prior to the pandemic) the Athens Street Food Festival has become one of the most anticipated cultural events in the Greek capital. This year organisers are expecting thousands more local and international visitors to attend- as they will once again be able to experience a great range of flavours and flair from all corners of the globe- including those of Mexico, Japan, France, Italy, Vietnam, the U.S, and needless to say, Greece! 

Insights Greece - Athens Street Food Festival 2022 Taking Place Throughout May
Insights Greece - Athens Street Food Festival 2022 Taking Place Throughout May
Insights Greece - Athens Street Food Festival 2022 Taking Place Throughout May

There will be plenty of traditional Greek street food to try- such as the country’s much-loved souvlaki, spanakopita and loukoumades- plus international favourites like burgers, mac and cheese, tacos, hotdogs, and gelato. The Festival will also be showcasing new food trends that have become popular over the past year.

If you are a foodie who happens to be in Athens during the month of May, do yourself a favour and head over to the old depot station in Gazi, which will be filled with plenty of food, drinks, music and a great vibe! 

More details on the programme of the Festival will be announced shortly, so keep an eye out. 

Date: Weekends between 6 – 29 May 2022

A: Old Depot, OSY, Pireos & Ermou, Gazi

W: Athens Street Food Festival

Athens and Epidaurus Festival to Open in June

The Greek capital’s annual Athens and Epidaurus Festival will reopen to live audiences on June 1, with over 80 productions scheduled to take place over four months. 

With an emphasis on Greek artists (50 are Greek productions) the popular event (amongst both locals and international visitors) will conclude in October 2021. 

Insights Greece - Athens and Epidaurus Festival to Open in June

Taking place across Athens, venues will include the Pireos 260 building with performances including theatre, music, dance, and visual arts. This year, there will be an addition to the program, Cycle 1821, which is set to commemorate the centennial of Greece’s War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire. 

The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus will premier 10 productions over three days a week (Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays) from June to August. Here, German theatre director Thomas Ostermeier and the Schaubühne will present a version of ‘Oedipus Rex’ by Maja Zade. Several Greek directors, independently or collaborating, will also present their ancient drama. 

At the Small Theater of Ancient Epidaurus, four Greek authors will each present a commissioned modern version of an ancient tragedy for the ‘Contemporary Ancients’ cycle, while other new performances will also take place. 

The Athens Festival’s main venue, the Odeon of Herod Atticus (Irodio), will host distinguished international musicians such as Brian Eno with his brother Roger Eno, pianist Zubin Mehta with the Maggio Musicale Orchestra of Florence, violinist Pinchas Zuckerman and the Monteverdi Choir accompanied by the English Baroque Soloists, in a performance conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

In terms of Greek performances, the Athens Festival will also include the National Opera, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, and Lena Platonos with Nalyssa Green, among others.