This year the Aisxylia 2025 Festival, organized by the Municipality of Elefsina, completes its 50th anniversary and is one of the most consistent and longest-running festivals in Greece, with its own identity and character.

This year’s Aisxylia 2025 Festival includes selected theatrical and musical performances, concerts, an art exhibition and cultural proposals that highlight contemporary expression and creation.

AISXYLIA 2025-SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Angelos Sikelianos –

The Last Orphic Dithyramb & The Spiritual March

Oratory

Sunday 31 August

Starting at 21:00

ELFSIS ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE

Free Entry with admission ticket*

This year’s festival presents the emblematic work of Angelos Sikelianos, “The Last Orphic Dithyramb,” a unique reconstruction of the lost Aeschylean drama “Bassarae.” The work brings to life the last hours of Orpheus, enriched with Thracian customs and Christian symbols, in a deeply poetic and messianic narrative about faith, sacrifice, and universal human unity.

The Spiritual March connects the Eleusinian Mysteries with Ancient Greek Literature through a study by Sikelianos set to music by Mikis Theodorakis. Marios Frangoulis, Nikitas Tsakiroglou, Filareti Komninou, Nikolas Maraziotis, Kostas Nikouli, Ioannis Athanasopoulos, directed by Ilias Malandris, with music by Yiannis Markopoulos and sets by Deni Vachlioti.

Inauguration of the Art Exhibition “Symbols III – ENTROPY”

Monday 1 September

Starting at 20:00

IRIS- ELEFSINA BEACH

Duration: 1/9-30/9/25

Free Admission

The art exhibition Symbols, making a dynamic return to Aischylia, explores the power of the symbol as a bearer of memory, identity, and metaphysical quest. Featuring prominent Greek visual artists (Kostas Tsoklis, Angelos Antonopoulos, Panagiotis Tanimanidis, Michalis Manousakis, and other renowned creators), curated by Professor Panagiotis Pangalos, this year’s presentation transforms Eleusis into a place of reflection and artistic revelation.

Continuing the successful course of previous editions at the National Museum of Contemporary Art and the Center of Mediterranean Architecture, the Symbols exhibition connects the primordial with the contemporary, showcasing works that engage with the concepts of the sacred, nature, and the collective unconscious.

The Sacrifice of Iphigenia

Shadow Theatre – Karagiozis

Wednesday 3 September

Starting at 20:00, Duration 60 minutes

THEATRAKI– MAGOULA SQUARE

Free Admission

The “Sacrifice of Iphigenia” is a special shadow theater performance for both young and old. Euripides’ well-known tragedy comes to life on the white screen of shadow theater by Christos Stanisis, with Karagiozis playing the role of the messenger Agamemnon, using specially crafted figures and red lighting that references the image on the vase. The performance is musically “dressed” with songs and music from Simon Karras’ archive, blending ancient Greek tragedy with folk shadow theater and Greek musical tradition.

Thebes Land

Modern Theater

Friday 5 September

Starting at 21:00, Duration 105’

IRIS- ELEFSINA BEACH

A writer spends several months in prison meeting a twenty-year-old patricide named Martín. His aim is to write a play based on the young inmate’s story, for which he proposes that Martín plays himself on stage. When this is eventually forbidden by the responsible ministry, the role is taken over by Federico, a young actor who begins working simultaneously with the writer. The Franco-Uruguayan Sergio Blanco, one of the strongest contemporary voices in Spanish-speaking theatre, delivers a modern study of male identity, oppression, violence and crime, punishment and discrimination, while also exploring the creative processes of theatrical art itself. The play makes references to the myth of Oedipus as well as to Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. The distinguished director Vangelis Theodoropoulos highlighted the multi-layered nature of the author’s work with a direction that was highly praised by critics and captivates audiences thanks to its excellent pace and evocative atmosphere. The production has established itself as an important theatrical event, mainly due to the outstanding performances by the actors: Thanos Lekkas as the Writer and the talented popular actor Dimitris Kapouranis, who won the Dimitris Horn Award 2022-2023 for his performance in the dual role of Martín/Federico.

Eco-acts
Puppet Theater

Monday 8 September

Starting at 20:00, Duration 60 minutes

Iroon Square

Free Admission

The Kokou-Mouklo Puppet Theater, with 20 years of creative experience in children’s theater, presents the humorous play themed around ecology and environmental protection titled “Eco-acts.” The performance is based on the remarkable series of short stories by the author Vasilis Iliopoulos and inspired by the figures of the Italian illustrator Francesca Cozanti. The play’s text is an adaptation of the literary work, aligned with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with particular emphasis on goals 13, 14, and 15 concerning energy, climate, and life on land and sea.

Philoctetes of Sophocles

Ancient Drama

Wednesday 10 September

Starting at 21:00, Duration 110′

IRIS – ELEFSINA BEACH

Giorgos Kimoulis, Dimitris Gkotsopoulos, and Thodoris Katsafados present Sophocles’ tragedy “Philoctetes.” In Philoctetes, Sophocles dramatizes a deceptive mission organized by Odysseus and carried out by Neoptolemus, the young son of Achilles. The two men arrive on the uninhabited island of Lemnos, at the edge, the farthest point of the world, where the Achaeans had abandoned Philoctetes for ten years, wounded by an incurable sore. Their mission is to steal Philoctetes’ famous bow because without it, the conquest of Troy is impossible.

Open-air cinemas!

Musical Show

Friday 12 September

Starting at 21:00

IRIS- ELEFSINA BEACH

A musical performance dedicated to the most beautiful songs from the most significant films that left a mark in the history of Greek cinema.

The summer cinemas remind us of those black-and-white images, skillfully “dressed” in Greek musical colors—bouzouki, zeibekiko, hasapiko, and syrtaki—offering us musical “diamonds” that remain forever indelible in our memory and heart. Featuring Penelope Anastasopoulou, Mathildi Maggira, Krateros Katsoulis, Panagiotis Petrakis, Eleni Kastani, and of course, Makis Delaportas, in a star-studded cast that takes us on a nostalgic, brilliant, wonderful “Journey to the Dream,” adorned with the most beloved songs of Greek cinema.

Mozart, The Magic Flute

Children’s Theatre

Monday 15 September

Starting at 20:00

IRIS- ELEFSINA BEACH

Entrance Free with entrance ticket*

Karmen Rouggeri and her collaborators, in the summer tour, will introduce their young and old friends to the unique Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, transforming the opera “The Magic Flute” into a musical fairy tale flooded with the wonderful melodies of this unique composer.

Kontylo Mytofryda – The Show

Interactive Children’s Musical-Theatrical Performance

Saturday, September 20

Starting at 21:00, Duration 90 minutes

THEATRAKI– MAGOULA SQUARE

Free Admission

A party show full of music, dance, karaoke and theatrical play. Kontylo is a “star witch” who reveals the secrets of magic to children through live music, choreography, games and many surprises.

The programme combines elements of a theatre show, concert, theatre game and animation, creating a magical atmosphere where children (and adults!) are not just spectators, but become part of the action.

Mikis – The Lyricist of the Century

A tribute to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mikis Theodorakis

Concert

Sunday 21 September

Start time 21:00

IRIS – ELEFSINA BEACH

A rare musical evening, dedicated to Mikis Theodorakis, the Greek composer who identified music with the destiny and soul of his people. A concert that commemorates the 100th anniversary of his birth, through his most emblematic songs, his poetry settings and the compositions that generations of Greeks have loved.

Maria Farantouri, the performer who bears the indelible stamp of Theodorakis, takes us on a journey with her voice to the songs “symbols” that united poetry and struggle, lyricism and memory, Greece and the world. With her, Grigoris Valtinos, with his characteristic theatrical presence, illuminates the life and work of the composer with words and narration, reading extracts from poems, thoughts and autobiographical texts by Miki himself.

Karagiozis and the Enigma of the Mermaid

Shadow Theatre

Wednesday 24 September

Starting at  21:00

PEOPLE’S SQUARE

Free Admission

A mermaid has appeared in the port of Elefsina and she puts a riddle to anyone who passes by.If she cannot explain it, then she takes him with her to her cave.Many people pass by, but no one can solve the mermaid’s riddle.Karagiozis decides to go there in order to solve the riddle and free all those who are captives of the mermaid. Will he succeed? The answer on stage…

Nikos Portokaloglou-Giannis Kotsiras

Concert

Friday 26 September

Starting at 21:00

IRIS- ELEFSINA BEACH

Nikos Portokaloglou, as a great songwriter with a rich compositional oeuvre, and Giannis Kotsiras, as one of the leading performers of his generation, join forces to create a unique musical experience, full of emotion, energy and authenticity. This collaboration marks a special artistic event, as the two performers, with a rich discography and a long career in Greek singing, come to offer us unique musical moments. With respect for each other’s work and with a common love for music, they prepare a programme full of timeless songs, powerful emotions and the unpretentious directness that characterizes them.

INFORMATION

Entrance tickets

Entrance cards are available:

• Opening concert at the Archaeological site of Elefsina, on the day of the concert one hour before the concert at the entrance of the Archaeological site.
• Children’s performance of Mozart – Magic Flute, one week before the performance at the Festival’s ticket outlets.

A limited number of tickets will also be available online.

THEATRICAL SHOWS

There is no intermission during theatrical performances. After the start, ticket holders are not allowed to enter the theatre. Children under 6 years of age are not allowed to enter. Children’s performances are suitable for children aged 4 and over.

TICKETS

The date of the ticket presale will be announced on the site aisxylia.gr

Via Internet:

Aisxylia.gr & more.com

Physical pre-sale points:

*Cultural Centre of the Municipality of Elefsina

Pangalou& Kimonos

Monday- Friday 09.00-14.00

*Iris, during the events, 19.00-21.00.

*Physical points more, information more.com