Heraklion’s 3rd Walls Festival runs August 31–September 10, closing with Nicola Piovani

The Municipality of Heraklion will hold the 3rd Walls Festival from Monday, August 31 to Thursday, September 10, featuring more than 35 events across music, cinema, theatre, dance and visual arts staged at bastions, arcades and gates of the city’s Venetian Walls.

Mayor of Heraklion Alexis Kalokairinos and Deputy Mayor for Culture Rena Papadaki-Skalidi visited festival venues along the Walls on Wednesday morning to finalize preparations, according to the municipality.

The festival will open with a drone display over the Jesus Bastion, followed by a performance at the “Nikos Kazantzakis” Garden Theatre bringing together singers Dimitra Galani and Eleni Tsaligopoulou with the Estudiantina of Nea Ionia Volos.

Program highlights

In the days that follow, the Greek National Opera will present “A Paris tous les deux,” a mixed performance combining film and opera. A permanent exhibition of National Resistance memorabilia will open in the Macasi arcade. Other scheduled performers include Konstantinos Vita, presenting a program based on the poetry of Yannis Ritsos; Stavros Lantsias, presenting “Waving Hands”; and jazz musician Petros Klampanis. Electronic music will be featured at the Voutouri Gate as part of the Eclipso Festival, alongside performances of Cretan traditional music in dialogue with Mediterranean, flamenco, punk rock and contemporary styles. The program also includes outdoor visual art exhibitions along the Walls.

Closing concert

The festival will close with a concert by Nicola Piovani, the Oscar-winning composer of the score for Roberto Benigni’s “La Vita è bella.” According to the municipality, Piovani returns to Heraklion decades after appearing at the Manos Hadjidakis Musical August, to perform “The Voyages of Odysseus.”

The municipality noted that this is the first Walls Festival held under the Cultural Development Programmatic Agreement for the protection, use and promotion of the Venetian fortifications and the Neoria of Heraklion, signed by the Municipality of Heraklion, the Region of Crete and the Ministry of Culture.

The detailed program and further details of the 3rd Walls Festival are expected to be announced next week, the municipality said.