This year marks ten years of meeting and creating for the Giortes Rokkas; the annual August event that evolved into a rich “handmade” fiesta in the mountainous hinterland of Chania. This year the Giortes Rokkas will be held from August 13th to 31st at the archaeological site of Rokka and in the squares, streets and courtyards of the houses of the villages of Rokka and Kera of Kissamos.

At the opening concert, the public will have the opportunity to watch a special musical spectacle by Marina Satti (13/8), to follow the two-day dance theater event “Kera A Scene” (19-20/8) and many parallel actions and workshops for all ages: photography, stone carving, percussion, breakdancing, visual arts and oral history. The Giortes Rokkas will culminate on August 31, under the light of the August – blue – full moon, with one of the most popular works of the 20th century’s contemporary repertoire, the cantata “Carmina Burana” by the German composer and music educator Karl Orff.

GIORTES ROKKAS-HIGHLIGHTS

Marina Satti concert in Rokka Square – August 13

She is a songwriter and versatile artist, who captures the primitive vibrations of the Greek countryside, inspired by the wild mountains and the vast Mediterranean sea, daring to experiment with pop and urban elements at the same time, taking off her personal sound that made her stand out.

At the concert on August 13th, she will be accompanied by an excellent band, in a contemporary musical celebration with polyphonic alchemies, unexpected orchestrations and her uniquely characteristic aesthetic.> Tickets: 12 euros (presale) 15 euros (box office)

Marina Satti

 «Kera A Scene» – August 19 and 20

For the fourth year, the entire village of Kera will be transformed into a huge stage with short events in yards, balconies, streets, fields and houses. This year the guest artists, under the artistic direction of Meti Panagiotopoulos, will work with the concept of fairy tale, explore legends from local and international tradition and fill the village of Kera with mythical and exotic creatures, magic and dreams – all within from the perspective of movement, dance and physical theater.> Tickets: 12 euros (presale) 15 euros (box office)

Full moon with “Carmina Burana” in the Archaeological Site of Rokka – August 31

In this atmospheric evening, the soloists Maya Murgiknelli (soprano), Antonis Koronaios (tenor), Angelos Chondrogiannis (baritone), the Vocal Ensemble Fonody, the Children and Adolescent Department of the Vocal Ensemble Fonody, the Choir Group of the Heraklion Music School (teaching Ioannis Idomeneos), the Choral Ensemble of Heraklion (teaching Yiannis Protopapas), the Academic Youth Choir of Athens (teaching Nikos Maliaras), the Youth Choir of the Regional Unity of Heraklion (teaching Lena Hatzigeorgiou) and the Percussion and Piano Ensemble of the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, under the musical direction of the important Greek chief musician, Myron Michaelidis. This is a production of the Cultural Conference Center of Heraklion which was presented with great success last June.> Free entry

Meet The Festival Academy

This year, reinforcing once more the extroversion of the Giortes Rokkas, a four-day international meeting (August 18-21) is organized with members of The Festival Academy (thefestivalacademy.eu), a global community of 1,100 festival curators from more than 95 countries. “A unique opportunity for festivals from all over the world to study our genuine event, as a case study, but also for Rokkas Festivals to further increase their outreach network, exploring possible new partnerships”, as Inge Ceustermans, director of The Festival Academy highlights.

During the four days of the meeting, directors and representatives of festivals from different parts of the world will be in the villages, attend the events and speeches that will be held as part of the meeting, talk to the organizers and artists and present the their own actions, with the aim of exchanging good practices and tools, but also the fermentation between the events.

For more information you may visit giortesrokkas.gr