Heraklion’s third Festival of the Walls opens August 31 with more than 35 events
The Municipality of Heraklion will hold the third edition of the Festival of the Walls from Monday, August 31, to Thursday, September 10, at the city’s Venetian Walls, Mayor Alexis Kalokairinos and Deputy Mayor for Culture Rena Papadaki-Skalidi said at a press conference on Thursday, August 27, at the Loggia.
Residents and visitors will be able to attend more than 35 events covering music, film, theater, dance and visual arts, most with free admission, staged at squares, arcades, gates, bastions and garden theaters along the Venetian Walls, the officials said.
First year under a cultural development agreement
Kalokairinos said this is the first year the festival is being held under the Programmatic Contract for Cultural Development signed between the Municipality of Heraklion, the Region of Crete and the Ministry of Culture. He said the parties to the contract also include the Organization for the Management and Development of Cultural Resources (ODAP), and that the ministry’s support is both institutional and financial.
According to Kalokairinos, the festival began as a trial in 2024, expanded in 2025, and in 2026 is settling into what he described as an ongoing set of cultural activities at the Walls that draws local participation while giving the city an international profile. He described this year’s program as having a broad, culturally inclusive character.
The mayor said the wider goal is to integrate the Venetian Walls into daily life in the city, citing completed and ongoing works, including a level section of the Walls. He said four urban gates — Sabbionara, Agios Georgios, Jesus Gate (now used for music events) and Pantokrator Gate, which hosts an exhibition by the Ephorate of Antiquities on the city’s 40 centuries of history — have been open for the past few weeks. He added that a new memorabilia space dedicated to the National Resistance, focused on the deportation of local residents in 1943 and 1944, will be inaugurated on September 10 at the Makasi arcade.
Kalokairinos thanked the Ministry of Culture and Minister Lina Mendoni, as well as Papadaki-Skalidi and municipal staff involved in organizing the festival.
Program includes drones, opera and jazz
Papadaki-Skalidi outlined the program, which she said includes more than 35 events over 12 days spanning theater, music, dance, guided tours and stargazing. The opening day will feature a drone show over the Walls followed by a concert with Dimitra Galani, Eleni Tsaligopoulou and the Estudiantina Volou, she said.
The deputy mayor said the program also includes performances involving the Greek National Opera, cinema screenings, exhibitions and artists including Vassilis Tsabropoulos, Nikos Grapsas, Konstantinos Vita, and Christos Tzifakis performing with the Crete Youth Symphony Orchestra under conductor Miltos Logiadis. A three-day jazz segment will feature David Lynch, Stavros Lantsias and Petros Klabanis, alongside a large music-and-dance performance by the Symposium of Culture, she said. Three acts aimed at younger audiences — Odysseas Grammatikakis, Frenzee and Eclipso — will perform at the Vitouri Gate, and the Ephorate of Antiquities will offer guided tours at the Pantokrator Gate, according to Papadaki-Skalidi.
She said the festival gains an international dimension this year with a concert by Oscar-winning composer Nicola Piovani following the Makasi arcade inauguration. Piovani is returning to the city after 45 years, having previously performed at the Musical August event in 1981 alongside Manos Hatzidakis, she said.
Similar cultural gatherings are taking place elsewhere in Crete this season, including Chania’s 12th Mikis Theodorakis Festival and Rethymno’s Platanias festival, while Heraklion is also set to host a K-pop tribute show on September 9.
Tickets and access
Papadaki-Skalidi said tickets and free-entry passes for events requiring them go on sale through ticketservices.gr from 10 a.m. on August 28. A limited number will also be available at the Nikos Kazantzakis Garden Theater box office for those without internet access, she said.
According to the organizers, discounted tickets are available for students, members of large families, unemployed people, people with disabilities, people over 65, and children up to age 6. General admission to the “Bethlehem” summer cinema is €4, excluding electronic ticketing fees. Where no ticket or free-entry pass is specified, admission is free, and guided tours will provide free audio headsets to participants.
The festival is organized by the Municipality of Heraklion’s Deputy Mayor’s Office for Culture, with production organized by Marianna Gialiti, and co-financed through the Programmatic Contract for Cultural Development with the Ministry of Culture. Readers interested in other events in Crete can find further listings on the municipality’s dedicated festival channels.
