‘This is Athens City Festival’ Kicks off Today With a Huge Urban Picnic 

What better way to kick off the very first ‘This is Athens City Festival’ than with a huge picnic filled with an array of food, friends, sunshine, and music. 

Celebrate Protomagia (May Day) today and the launch of this exciting new spring Festival at the blooming grounds of Plato Academy Park, located in the historic Kolonos neighbourhood of Athens.

Famous radio DJ hosts of Athens will soundtrack the day from the early morning to late evening, with dozens of free activities on offer; including movie screenings, kids’ activities, family games, and lots of food and drinks. 

So if you find yourself in the Greek capital make sure to head over and take part in the great range of festivities on offer! 

Full Details Below- 

EVENT: Urban Picnic at Plato’s Academy Park (FREE ENTRANCE) 

VENUE: Park of Plato’s Academy | Plato’s Academy Park, Monastiriou 138-140, Athens

DATE & TIME: 1st of May 2022 | 10:30 am till late 

PROGRAM

10.30-12.00
Live DJ set from HiT 88.9

10.30-15.00
Archaeological excavation workshop by Archaeolab

12.00-13.00
“The Highway Singers’’ by Burger Project
(Music play for traffic education, offered by Attiki Odos)

12.30-18.30
Spring Games for kids by Kid A

13.00-16.00
Live DJ set by En Lefko 87.7

16.00-20.00
Kite show by Kite Parade

16.00-18.30
Live DJ set by Red 96.3

18.30-19.30
Live concert by Soul Peanuts

20.15
“The Bucket List” movie projection
(Comedy with Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman)

For more details head to This Is Athens City Festival 

Marti, Celebrating the First Day of Spring

The 1st of March is the beginning of Spring in Greece, which brings with it the hope for warm days and lots of sunshine; it also indicates summer is around the corner!  

To help celebrate, Greeks have an ancient custom called “Marti,” which dates back to ancient Greece and it is well known all over the country.

Insights Greece - Marti, Celebrating the First Day of Spring

The name is derived from the Greek word for the month of March, “Martios.” From March 1st, it is a tradition, especially for children, to wear a bracelet made of twisted white and red thread, with white symbolising purity, and red representing life and love.

Children wear the bracelet for the entire month and remove it on the last day of March. After taking off the bracelet, they hang it in a fruit tree, so the tree will remain healthy and flourish.

In several regions in Greece, at the end of the month, the bracelet is placed on rose bushes. In other regions, the bracelet is wrapped around pitchers in order to protect the water from the sun and to keep it cold. Others tie the bracelet around a tree so that it can fructify.

On the 1st day of each month, people in Greece also wish everyone “Kalo Mina”, which means enjoy the month ahead!