On Saturday, November 29 at 19.00, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) lights up and transforms into the city’s most enchanting Christmas destination. The festive celebration, hosted by actress Evgenia Samara, marks the opening of the SNFCC Christmas World, made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), with free admission for all.

On November 29, countless festive lights illuminate the 80 plane trees along the Canal and the three decorated Christmas trees standing proudly in the Agora. The Stavros Niarchos Park becomes a dreamlike landscape through the “BioLumina” Light Installations Festival, inspired by bioluminescence—the ability of certain living organisms to produce and emit light. Four artworks by acclaimed international artists and two Greek contributions transform the Park using light as their medium. The Canal Fountains join the spectacle in their own spectacular way: dancing and glowing to Christmas rhythms. Completing the quintessential holiday stroll in Athens is the Ice Rink on the Canal, ready to welcome both experienced and first-time skaters.

The evening begins at 19.00 sharp in the SNFCC Agora, where the stage is set to welcome the Loop Quartet—four voices that become instruments, rhythm, and melody, turning carols, swing classics, and pop hits such as “Carol of the Bells,” “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree,” and “All I Want for Christmas” into contemporary polyphonic experiences.

They are followed by Nina Mazani, one of the most dynamic new artists of the Greek music scene. With her distinctive voice and accompanied by her five–member band, she presents a program created especially for the night, filled with swing and jazz versions of major hits such as “Careless Whisper,” “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!,” “Let’s Get Loud,” “Hot Stuff,” and many more.

The November 29 celebration will be broadcast live on ERT2 Sports as well as on the SNFCC’s YouTube and Facebook channels, and will also be available on ERTFLIX. Additionally, it will be livestreamed at the David Geffen Hall of New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, as part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation–Lincoln Center (SNF-LC) Agora Initiative—a partnership aimed at reimagining public space, which includes the “Twin Agoras” at the SNFCC and Lincoln Center. The broadcast will also be available through the digital channels of Johns Hopkins University and UCLA in the United States.