On the occasion of this year’s 70th anniversary of the institution, the Athens Epidaurus Festival joins forces with the European Festivals Association network, of which it is a member, to organize the international symposium, Fearless Festivals. The aim of the forum is to highlight the role of festivals as key spaces for free expression, experimentation and the expansion of public debate.

The forum, organised in the framework of grape 2025, brings together directors and managers of leading festivals from around the world, as well as Greek artists and theorists of theatre and dance.

The forum will take place on 23 July 2025 at the Goethe Institute with free admission for all. The discussions will be held in English, without parallel interpretation.

Programme

10:30 | Gate Opening

11:00 | Greeting Remarks

• Katerina Evangelatos, Director, Artistic Director, Athens Epidaurus Festival
• Jan Briers, President, European Festivals Association

11:30 | Fearless Festivals: Leadership, Risk and Reinvention

Discussion in the participation of

Haris Pašović, Director, Sarajevo Festival

Milena Lubarda Marojević, Director, Theatre City Budva

Johanna Freundlich, Artistic Director, Helsinki Festival

Gabriella Triantafylli, Director of Planning and Production, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (Greece)

Florian Borchmeyer, Curator, Festival International New Drama – FIND / Schaubühne Berlin

Coordinated by Katerina Evangelatos, Artistic Director

13:30 | Working without fear: Performance in a changing and challenging environment

Discussion in the participation of

Patricia Apergi, Choreographer

Katerina Giannopoulou, Director

Pantelis Flatsousis, Director

Anestis Azas, Director

Argyro Chiotis, Director, Artistic Director,National Theatre of Greece

Moderated by Dimitris Papanikolaou, Professor of Modern Greek and Cultural Studies at the University of Oxford