With great success was completed on Sunday 2 October the 1ο Festival of the Region of Attica, which was held on the initiative and at the encouragement of the Attica Regional Governor, G. Patoulis and the full cooperation and supervision of the Vice-Regional Head of Culture and Sports, Charis Roma, at the «Katina Paxinou» theatre in Attica Grove.
The Governor of Attica G. Patoulis on the occasion of the completion of 1no Festival of the Athens Region in Attica Park, he pointed out:
«I would like to express my great pleasure that the citizens of Attica have enthusiastically embraced a new institution and a new art cell in Attica and this gives us the motivation to continue with the same fervor, as investing in culture is a priority for us.
We want culture accessible to all, because culture is not an abstract concept but a necessary element of well-being, a democratic good that must be accessible to the whole of society.
This year, the heart of Attica's summer beat at the «Katina Paxinou» Theatre in Attica Grove, a new cultural venue which the Attica Region has upgraded with systematic work in order to provide citizens with a rich variety of artistic events. For this reason, the Region of Attica opened its arms to its Municipalities and offered excellent cultural events of high quality. I would like to congratulate and thank all the participants and all those who contributed to this excellent result, as well as the Vice-Regional Head of Culture, Mr. C. Roma, for his cooperation. We renew our appointment for next year».
Ο Deputy Head of Culture and Sports, Haris Romas, stated «I am completely covered by the key phrase that George Patoulis has established: "Culture is THE RACHOKOKALIA OF A HEALTHY SOCIETY. The 1.ο Festival of the Region of Attica is now a fact and this makes us proud and happy».
The Festival
The festival started on 1η July with the children's opera «The Magic Violin» by the musical ensembles of the Alimos Music School and the curtain fell with the explosive comedy Medea by Bost, from the National Theatre, directed by Yannis Kalavrianos.
The citizens responded to the call and the gift offered by the Region of Attica and throughout July they enjoyed free theatrical performances, widely accepted, for every preference, from children's opera, Aristophanes« Themistocles, Euripides» Medea and Bost, from the National Theatre, excellent performances about the Asia Minor Catastrophe, but also from great directors such as Enke Fezollari, Tasos Pyrgieri and Konstantinos Marcellus, as well as the great performance «Marika Ninou - San Astro» from the Karolos Koun Art Theatre. Timeless performances with social content, such as «The Profession of Mrs. Warren» by the unique George Bernard Shaw and «Unripe Cherries», as well as alternative events involving internationally renowned choreographers, such as «The Opposite of blood» - "Retention".
The nights in July were unique and the theatre was packed every day, with the visitors' impressions exceeding all expectations.
Then, in the second part of the festival, in the month of September, there was an explosion of wonderful musical evenings and excellent artists who enchanted the audience with their voices and offered the citizens endless moments of pleasure and entertainment.
The opening event was «Asia Minor - A Place Elsewhere», a great tribute to the 100 years since the Asia Minor Catastrophe, held in cooperation with the Holy Synod of Athens, which was attended by the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Archbishop Hieronymos, together with the Governor of Attica, George Patoulis and the Deputy Governor of Culture and Sports, Haris Roma.
Then, in the theatre of Galatsi and for thirty days, the enchanting voices of Marios Fragoulis and Deborah Mayers, Eleftheria Arvanitaki and Giorgos Perris, Lena Alkaiou and Sophia Vossou as well as Gerasimos Andreatos, Eleni Karakasis, Makis Psaradellis and Stavroula Esampalidis were heard. The unique program of Matthaios and Konstantinos Tsachouridis stirred the audience with their pontian lyre and the folk performances of Bampi Velissarios and Stella Karyda caused emotion and excitement to the listeners. Marina Satti with a special program with music from Greece and the Balkans offered endless pleasure to the audience, but also Yannis Vardis, with Giorgos Lianos and Maria Karlaki, Akis Diximos with Kostas Doxas, Zoe Tiganouria, Stavros Salampasopoulos with Artemis Matafia amazed the visitors of the theatre. The Festival could not miss great tributes to the late Mikis Theodorakis by the Mikis Theodorakis Folk Orchestra, to Grigoris Bithikotsis, who this year marks the 100th anniversary of his birth, and to the unique Mimi Plessas.
Songs from the Greek cinema were performed by Tina Trakou, Mariolena Rozaki and Aris Plaskovitis and on the night of the September Full Moon we listened to the saxophone of George Katsaros with the performance of TEREZA and the band Latina Loca.
A tribute to Asia Minor was also performed by Pantelis Thalassinos, Gerasimos Andreatos, Violeta Ikaris and Ioulia Karapataki and of course special were the evenings with soprano Gina Foteinopoulou and Panagiotis Petrakis and soloist Mara Thrasyβουλidou, under the direction of conductor George Niarchos, who took us on a journey to Greek operetta with unforgettable songs.
The festival closed with rock music by the unique Nikos Portokaloglou accompanied by Rena Morfi, who blew the audience away, as well as bands mainly for the young audience, such as Andronikos and the Band, the Peppers Beatles Tribute Band and Karmica with Giorgos Panteris.
