From November 28th until January 10th, Athens will be transformed into a festive scene with Christmas events for all ages.

Concerts, theater performances, storytelling, educational programs, art workshops, outdoor film screenings, exhibitions and guided tours and of course festive events for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

The festive program planned by the Culture, Sports & Youth Organization of the Municipality of Athens and Technopoli, in collaboration with the Athens Development Agency and the radio station of the city of Athens 9.84, is hosted in the Art Gallery, Creative Learning Centers, Museums, Libraries, at the Olympia Municipal Music Theater “Maria Callas”. OPANDA, in the Municipal Market of Kypseli, in the Maria Kallas Museum, in the Athens Book Space in Eleftheria Park, as well as in squares, streets and neighborhoods of the city.

“Red thread tied” in the neighborhoods of Athens

From December 21 to January 5, seven city squares are transformed into cozy nests of storytelling and travel to worlds of fantasy and dreams. In specially designed tents, countless books will await young and old for moments of free reading. Famous artists and athletes will be there and tell stories full of wisdom, nostalgia and hope through beloved fairy tales, while the carols and festive rhythms of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens will enhance the magical atmosphere.

Activities for the whole family

Workshops, games and activities bring families closer to the holiday spirit. Ornamental, calendar and greeting card art, painting, baking, play, musical movement, puppet making, puppetry, creative reading, thread and yarn crafts, traditional Christmas boat decoration, art with festive touches and inspiration from Wassily Kandinsky and him Salvador Dali, gardening with festive alexandria, but also original illustration, bookbinding and hat making workshops await the public in the Art Gallery, Museums, Libraries, Creative Learning Centers and in the cultural spaces of the Municipality of Athens. Social bazaars and Christmas markets come with gift ideas, from comics and ceramics to books and holiday decorations combined with face painting and bubble shows.

Music events and concerts

From December 24 to 26, Syntagma Square will host concerts by favorite artists, such as Panos Mouzourakis, Doros Dimosthenous, MIKRO, Idra Kayne, “To Pragma”, the Athenian Mandolinata “Nikolaos Lavdas”, the MOb Trio and Zamominia, while for 11 consecutive days the Easy radio station 97.2 will convey the Christmas atmosphere live with music broadcasts.

The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens will be on central sidewalks in various parts of the city with its Christmas tunes, as will the van of the radio station Athens 9.84, which will reach from Syntagma and Ermou to Agios Panteleimonas and Cell. Brilliant musical evenings at the Olympia Municipal Music Theater “Maria Callas”, promising the classic operetta “The Bat” by Johann Strauss the Younger, the concert “RosARTe of Musicals” with favorite songs from Disney films and Broadway musicals, as well as the festive appearance of the Big Band of the Municipality of Athens with Veronica Mortensen and the Danish performer Niels HP. The program also includes a concert with “Carols and Christmas Songs”, the anniversary concert “Athens Capital 1834” with historical works by top composers and a tribute concert to Thanos Mikroutsikos entitled “Let me come with you”.

At the same time, the Maria Callas Museum will host special events such as the “Christmas Listening Club” with radio producer Giorgos Florakis and Alkyone and a special “Hot Chocolate Jazz Session”. The “Melina” Cultural Center will be flooded with Byzantine, traditional and Rembet music with the “Journey of Sounds through Time”, while the Athens Book Space and the Municipal Market of Kypseli with classical and contemporary tunes from the international and Greek music scene from Brass Fun. Events such as “Kypseli Beat” and “Athens Cocktails”, promise unique musical experiences in the Municipal Market.

At the Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Aggeliki Hatzimichalis” the fairy-tale opera “The Angel Became a Star” and the “Christmas Carols with Narrative” about the customs of the Twelve Days will be presented.

Finally, at the Athens Book Space of Freedom Park, the magic of jazz will be revealed through “Jazz Around the Kids”.

Outdoor screenings

In the year 2024, from December 27 to 30, the Christmas magic of Athens will join the magical world of cinema in collaboration with Frontstage Entertainment, Cinobo and the Athens International Film Festival for Children and Adolescents. Atmospheric outdoor screenings will be set up in emblematic spots of the capital, such as the outdoor area of ​​the Athens Book Space in Eleftheria Park and the outdoor area of ​​the Metropolis of Athens, but also the parking lot of the Municipal Theater of Lycabettus, for an exciting drive-in screening with a view of the Christmas Athens.

Theatrical performances, exhibitions and guided tours

Unique experiences of art and culture come during the holidays in museums and cultural venues. In the outdoor space of the Athens Book Space, theatrical narratives through the performances “O Agriofonaras and the Carols” and “The Nutcracker” will transport children to fantasy worlds, while the children’s theater groups of the Gravas Center for Creative Learning will present the Christmas show “Night of Miracles”.

At the same time, the Maria Callas Museum will offer guided tours combined with Christmas piano melodies on the third floor, while at the Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Aggeliki Hatzimichalis” a guided tour with interpretation in Greek Sign Language will be held, promoting inclusion.

In the visual exhibition “PLAY TOY – Toy Stories” of the Cultural Center “Melina”, the relationship between man and the game acquires a new dimension through the works of artists and children, while in the Creative Learning Center of Neo Kosmos the exhibition “Aesthetic Chromatology – Recycling and Applied Arts” will bring recycling and creativity to the fore.

December 21st, the longest night of the year

On December 21, from afternoon to late evening, Athens will celebrate the winter solstice in ten small stages, hosting favorite artists. The Olympia Municipal Music Theater “Maria Callas” welcomes Giorgis Christodoulou in a live performance in collaboration with the radio station Kosmos 93.6, while in the underground Metro station of Syntagma Square, the female vocal ensemble Chóres presents a dynamic polyphonic program.

In Agios Panteleimonas, the De Profundis Ensemble will present works by top classical music composers, in Ermou there will be a piano recital, while in Protogenous Street music from the Greek alternative scene will be heard with DJ sets, happenings and exhibitions.

At Stoa Dragatsaniou 6, the En Lefko 87.7 radio station is organizing a dance party. Well-known DJs will rock Gyzi Square and Agios Andreas Square in Lambrini with beats, the radio producers of Melodia 99.2 will set the pace in Fokionos Negri, while the pedestrian street of Haritos will host the Athens Voice street party.

Christmas Eve with the Night of Wishes

The favorite custom of the festive season comes to Kotzia Square on Christmas Eve. On December 24th we will “illuminate” the city with wishes, filling the sky with the traditional biodegradable lanterns of the “Night of Wishes”. The most atmospheric Christmas revue will musically “dress up” the van of Athens 9.84 station, which will broadcast live with selections from its radio producers.

New Year’s Eve at Syntagma Square

Athens will welcome 2025 with a special festive proposal, bringing the “Terrace of Phoebus” to Syntagma Square. On New Year’s Eve, Phoebus Delivorias together with Natassa Bofiliou, Thanasis Alevras, Martha Frindzila, a large orchestra, dancers and new voices, will present a live musical and theatrical time machine, which will run through the entire history of Athens from 1945 to 2025 , through songs, dances, projections and humorous theatrical highlights. The festive evening will be opened musically by the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Municipality of Athens.

The majority of activities are organized with free entry.