Chania’s 12th Mikis Theodorakis Festival runs August 31 to September 3, 2026
The Region of Crete, the Municipality of Chania and the Pancretan Association “Friends of Mikis Theodorakis” are staging the 12th Mikis Theodorakis Festival in Chania from Monday, August 31, to Thursday, September 3, 2026. All events are free to attend.
The festival marks 100+1 years since the composer’s birth in 1925 and the fifth anniversary of his death, according to the organizers. Theodorakis chose Chania, and Crete more broadly, as his final resting place, and the festival is intended to keep his memory and body of work alive.
Concerts and theatre
The program opens on August 31 at 8:30 p.m. at the Mikis Theodorakis Theatre with “The Classical & Lyrical Mikis Theodorakis,” a concert featuring pianist Tatiana Papageorgiou, vocalist Kostas Triantafyllidis and violinist Giorgos Panagiotopoulos exploring the connections between the composer’s Cretan, Greek and international musical influences.
On September 1, the theatrical production “Mikis Theodorakis – Our Own Musician,” written and directed by Vicky Panou and based on documents from the composer’s official archive at the Athens Concert Hall’s music library, will be staged at 11:30 a.m. at the Megalo Arsenali and again at 7 p.m. at the Theodorakis family home in Galatas. The cast includes Aris Delagrammatikas, Stavroula Kamni and Christos Loizos.
Memorial Day events on September 2
September 2, the anniversary of Theodorakis’s death in 2021, is designated Memorial Day. At 11:30 a.m., an annual memorial service will be held at the Galatas cemetery, including a memorial prayer, the laying of flowers, songs performed by the Chania Municipal Philharmonic, and a visit to the Theodorakis family home.
In the evening, the Megalo Arsenali at the Venetian Harbour will host a guided tour of the photography exhibition “Mikis Theodorakis 1925-2026. With the Distance of Time” at 7 p.m. This is followed at 7:30 p.m. by the festival’s central event, a political memorial at the Mikis Theodorakis Theatre featuring welcoming remarks from organizers, a keynote address titled “From Crete to the Rhine – Mikis Theodorakis and his music publisher” by Christian Hoesch, head of the concert, opera and musicology departments at the Schott music publishing house, and a musical tribute, “Mikis with piano and voice,” performed by Tasis Christogiannopoulos on vocals and Miltos Logiadis on piano.
The festival closes on September 3 at 8:30 p.m. at the Anatoliki Tafros Theatre, where singer Kostas Makedonas will perform Theodorakis’s work. Readers can find further upcoming events in Crete on the island’s events calendar.
Photo exhibition through mid-September
Separately, from September 1 to 15, 2026, the bilingual exhibition “Mikis Theodorakis – With the Distance of Time – 1925-2026” will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6:30 to 10 p.m. Organizers describe it as featuring rare and previously unpublished photographs covering the composer’s political and musical career, including the Marathon Peace March with the Lambrakis youth movement, his concerts for Cyprus, his friendship with fellow composer Manos Hadjidakis, and his family life.
The exhibition draws on photographic archives credited to Vasilis Karageorgos, Valasis Festas, Zozo Toledo and Dimitris Alatas, with curation and text by Athanasios D. Alatas and corrections and translation by Niki Kakalia. The Region of Crete has also organized other cultural programming this season, including concerts at Ancient Aptera in September and free theatre performances in villages across the island.
