This is Athens City Festival

Athens Photo World: Michalis Pappas – Mitos, The Thread of Greece
2026-05-31 06:00 - 23:30 (Europe/Athens) | The Athens Concert Hall – Megaron, Vas. Sofias & Kokkali, Athens, 115 21, Greece
For the seventh consecutive year, Athens Photo World returns to the perimeter of the Megaron Athens Concert Hall transforming it into a street gallery, showing a different and deeply personal perspective on Greek identity. As part of the This is Athens City Festival 2026, this year’s exhibition features 13 selected photographs from the broader work of Michalis Pappas, titled “Mitos: The Thread of Greece”.

Moving away from the usual landmarks, Pappas’s lens focuses instead on traditional costumes worn by contemporary figures, proving that tradition is not a fossilised relic of the past, but a living, evolving process that breathes within our daily lives. It is an evocative connection between yesterday and today, inviting passers-by to discover the “thread” that links us to our roots right in the heart of the urban fabric.

Exhibition duration: 29 May – 31 August

Interactive Experiences at the Museum of Philhellenism
2026-05-31 10:00 - 17:30 | Philhellenism Museum, 12 Zisimopoulou, Athens, 115 24, Greece
The Museum of Philhellenism, a unique landmark of its kind worldwide, opens its doors to the audience of the This is Athens City Festival for two special Sundays with free admission. Visitors will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the history of the philhellenic movement through a comprehensive experience that combines cinema with a classic guided tour.
The programme includes:

Screening: “PHILHELLENES” (30’):A journey through the philhellenic movement, from its origins in the Renaissance to the liberation of Greece (in Greek with English subtitles).
Guided tour of the Permanent Collection:A tour across the Museum’s four floors, featuring more than 450 artefacts. Among the exhibits, visitors will admire rare personal belongings of Lord Byron, paintings and sculptures, intricate philhellenic clocks and porcelains, as well as period weaponry and historical documents that narrate the remarkable contribution of the Philhellenes to the rebirth of Greece.

Duration: 90 minutes

10:00–11:30
12:00–13:30
14:00–15:30
16:00–17:30

Free admission with advance booking required. Limited availability. To register, please send your full name, affiliation, mobile contact number, and email to info@phmus.org.
This activity is only available in Greek.

Theatre Battles in Ancient Athens
2026-05-31 11:00 - 12:30 | Epigraphic Museum, Tositsa 1, Athens, Athens, 106 82, Greece
The This is Athens City Festival invites explorers of all ages to an educational adventure that reimagines ancient Athens through the eyes of two real-life legends. Auteas and Philoxenides, two “choregoi” (the visionary sponsors of the time) from Aexone, today’s Glyfada, are making a symbolic comeback 2,300 years later to guide us through the thrilling world of theatrical competitions.

What exactly was the role of a sponsor back then? How were the city’s massive festivals organised? And why was theatre so much more than just a night out? Taking its cue from a rare honorary decree from 313/2 BC housed in the Epigraphical Museum, this session is specially designed for families with children aged 7 to 10. Through storytelling, discovery, and a hands-on creative workshop, kids will dive into ancient drama and the city’s public life in a way that’s interactive, fast-paced, and fun. It’s a chance to pull the past into the present with imagination, play, and a real connection to Athens’ cultural soul.

This activity is only available in Greek.

First Cemetery of Athens: An Open-Air Gallery 2
2026-05-31 17:00 - 19:00 | First Cemetery of Athens, Logginou 3, Athens, Athens, 116 36, Greece
Yannoulis Chalepas’ “Sleeping Maiden” is, without a doubt, the most iconic sculpture of the First Cemetery of Athens, but the beauty of this open-air museum goes far beyond its famous resident.
As part of the City of Athens Festival 2026, archaeologist and certified guide Michalis Giohalas invites us to step off the main path and follow an alternative route through the climbing alleys of the cemetery. Beyond the well-trodden spots, we will discover a lesser-known yet equally staggering side of Modern Greek sculpture. Here, imposing mausoleums and monuments stand where the grand passion for legacy meets a crushing silence—a space where the mortal seems to converse with the immortal. This guided tour illuminates unknown masterpieces and human stories, offering a deeply immersive look into the artistic and historical heritage of Athens.

Meeting Point: Main Entrance of the First Cemetery of Athens (end of Anapafseos Street).

This activity is only available in Greek.

Athens Disco: TiACF 2026 Closing Party
2026-05-31 17:30 - 23:00 | Athinas Str., Athinas Street, Athens, Athens, 105 52, Greece
We never go out with a low-key applause. For this year’s grand finale, we are transforming the iconic Athinas Street into a vast, glowing dancefloor. One of Athens’ most historic thoroughfares will shed its everyday, bustling face, surging with music, lights, and crowds for a closing that will be truly unforgettable.

The evening is a tribute to the timeless magic of disco, the sound that never stopped commanding us to the floor and continues to fuel the fire of today’s electronic music. Top Greek DJs will take to the decks, ready to drop the beat for a non-stop dance marathon packed with glamour, raw energy, and a nostalgic spirit that looks firmly toward the future.

With a massive sound system, a cinematic light show, and thousands of festival-goers merging into one giant crew, Athinas Street becomes the ultimate stage for the most joyful and explosive “farewell” of the year. One last great celebration in the heart of the city, until we meet again.

Tilda Swinton: Ongoing
2026-05-31 18:00 - 23:00 | Onassis Ready, 2 Strati Tsirka, Ag. Ioannis Rentis, 182 33, Greece
Marking its fifth year with a great collaboration with Onassis Stegi, we offer an encounter with one of the season’s most keenly discussed artistic propositions. At its centre is Tilda Swinton, a figure who has long moved with deliberate, almost defiant ease between cinema, fashion, and the visual arts, each appearance less a performance than a considered cultural gesture.

The exhibition Ongoing, presented at the recently inaugurated Onassis Ready, resists the tidy framing of a retrospective. Instead, it unfolds as an active, evolving dialogue between Swinton and a close circle of collaborators. Among them Pedro Almodóvar, Luca Guadagnino, Jim Jarmusch, Joanna Hogg, Tim Walker, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Olivier Saillard, and Derek Jarman. Through short films, installations, and photographic works, the exhibition gently dismantles and reassembles the layers of her artistic identity, moving between the dreamlike and the intimately personal. The result is a multi-stranded exhibition that illuminates her rich creative journey and her profound connection to contemporary art.

20 invitations are available from the Onassis Stegi for 22, 24, 29, and 31 May – 5 invitations per day.

Bookings open one week before each event at 12:00 noon and are made via this page.
