The Athens Epidaurus Festival is Greece’s leading cultural organisation and one of the oldest continuously running festivals in Europe. Spanning 71 years, the Festival has welcomed some of the greatest music, dance, and theatre artists of the international and local scene, in collaboration with the most prestigious Greek and international organisations, attracting large audiences from around the world.
Athens Epidaurus Festival 2026 (Official Trailer)
Beginning on May 29 and running for 92 days, with 104 productions and more than 2,500 artists and collaborators from 26 countries, this year’s edition marks the beginning of the three-year tenure of the new Artistic Director, Michail Marmarinos. It also coincides with the landmark 20th anniversary of Peiraios 260 as a central artistic hub of the institution.
Michail Marmarinos, speaking at the presentation of the artistic program of the Athens Epidaurus Festival for 2026 in his capacity as Artistic Director, described the Festival as a dynamic space for encounter and exchange of ideas, connecting Greek audiences with the latest currents of contemporary artistic creation on the international stage. He focused on the concept of “Vertical Time” — the time of personal experience that excavates emotion — and described the darkness of the theater hall as therapeutic, since it functions as a passage toward a new, unknown self that reveals itself to us after the performance. Within this context, the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus reconnects this year with the sanctuary of the Asklepieion of Epidaurus, recalling the “healing” nature of Art.
In addition to the nine major productions that will be presented at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, innovative initiatives are also being introduced this year, such as Narrative Archaeology at the archaeological site of the Asklepieion of Epidaurus and the new thematic series 1-1-1 at the Ancient Stadium — where music plays the leading role in the interpretation of ancient drama. Particular emphasis is placed this year on dance, which takes center stage as an open field of encounter between bodies, memory, and collective experience.
The new visual identity for 2026 was presented by the founders of the creative studio Polkadot Design, Klairi Georgelli and Nearchos Daskas. As they explained, the Festival’s visual language emerged through a handcrafted and almost ritualistic process, in which a simple gesture is transformed into trace and image.
Up until 2005, the Festival had been held exclusively at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. In the summer of 2006, five brand-new theatre stages were launched at the Peiraios 260 industrial venue which has since emerged as an important springboard for contemporary art. Artistic productions and site-specific performances are also presented at other venues in Attica and various locations as part of the Festival.
(Source: https://aefestival.gr/ )
ODEON OF HERODES ATTICUS
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus – known as the “Herodeon” – is located on the southern slopes of the Acropolis, on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street. Entry to the Odeon is from the pedestrianised Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, a walkway linking Athens’ main archaeological sites (Source: Athens Epidaurus Festival, © Thomas Daskalakis)
Stamatis Kraounakis, Lysistrata, A hilarious opera (12-13.6.2026) (left), Stathis Livathinos, Hecuba, Euripides (25-26.6.2026)(right)
In the shade of Plato’s Republic
As has already been announced, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus will open to the public for one month and will then close for several years so that essential restoration work can proceed, allowing the Roman theater to enter a new era. The venue will mainly host musical events and major tribute performances. Michail Marmarinos emphasized the importance of these tributes, noting that “through this, the festival expresses gratitude to individuals who shaped its course and what we are today as artists.”
PEIRAIOS 260
The Athens Festival venue at 260 Peiraios Street is a former industrial space located at the Tavros district of Athens, and shares a city block with the Athens School of Fine Art (Source: Athens Epidaurus Festival)
This year, the venue is celebrating its 20th anniversary, with a diverse program and various innovations aimed at keeping visitors at the venue until very late at night. As part of its anniversary celebrations, the festival is paying tribute to George Loukos, the artistic director who first established this venue, transforming a former industrial complex into the principal home of the Athens Epidaurus Festival and opening it to international artists and pioneering avant-garde works. Dance will take center stage this year, with a number of international productions making their Greek premiere. This year sees the debut of Gen 260, a platform designed to showcase and amplify the voices of young performing artists. In addition to dance, this year’s festival will spotlight contemporary music through the C-Music Now series and Greek theatre through new dramaturgical works alongside modern reimaginings of classical texts.
Teaċ Daṁsa – Michael Keegan-Dolan, MÁM (10-11.6.2026) (left), Tribute to Georges Aperghis, Quatuor Diotima, Works by Aperghis, Tzortzis, Ligeti (28.6.2026)
Gemma Hansson Carbone, The Gospel of Cassandra, by Dimitris Dimitriadis (4-5.7.2026)
Pireos 260 will once again keep the party going late into the night with its popular live events in the Garden and the Square, newly renamed AFTERS. This year, the festival is also introducing screenings of recorded stage productions, presented in the atmosphere of an open-air summer cinema as part of a new series, Starry Sky – Starry Nights.
ANCIENT THEATER OF EPIDAURUS
The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus is located within the archaeological site of the Sanctuary of Asklepios, in the Argolis prefecture of the Peloponnese. It is a half-hour drive from Nafplio and approximately two hours from Athens (Source: Athens Epidaurus Festival)
Alan Lucien Øyen, Antigone, Inspired by the work of Sophocles (7-8.8.2026)
At the Epidaurus Festival 9 different interpretations by Greek and international creators will be presented, based on both well-known and lesser-performed texts. The Festival opens on June 20 with the revival of Medea by Luigi Cherubini, the highly anticipated co-production with the Greek National Opera. This will be followed by The Persians by Aeschylus, directed by Christos Theodoridis (July 2 & 3), and The Bacchae directed by Deyan Donkov Gardev, featuring The Tiger Lillies live on stage (July 17 & 18). Next come Alcestis by Euripides, directed by Dimitris Karantzas, and Peace by Aristophanes, directed by Nikos Karathanos (July 24 & 25). The next production at the ancient theatre is The Trojan Women, directed by Eleni Efthymiou (July 31 and August 1), followed by Antigone by the Norwegian director and choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen, a choreographic approach inspired by and giving rhythm to tragic poetry. The Epidaurus Festival concludes with Lysistrata by the National Theatre of Northern Greece, directed by Asterios Peltikis (August 21 & 22), and Ion, directed by Thomas Moschopoulos.
LITTLE THEATER OF ANCIENT EPIDAURUS
The Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus is located in the Argolis prefecture of the Peloponnese. It is a half-hour drive from Nafplio and approximately two hours from Athens (Source: Athens Epidaurus Festival, © Thomas Daskalakis)
Marta Górnicka, Mothers – A Song for Wartime (4.7.2026)
In recent years, Little Theatre of Epidaurus has no longer been intended solely for musical events, as it was in the past. This year, dance is also being incorporated into the program.
SYSTEMA
A major cultural policy announcement of the Festival is SYSTEMA – For the Greek Performing Arts, an important partnership between the Athens Epidaurus Festival, the National Theatre of Greece, and the Kalamata International Dance Festival, aimed at dynamically promoting Greek artistic creation abroad. In a joint statement, the Artistic Directors of the three institutions presented this initiative as a gesture of collaborative ethos.
VISUAL ARTS
VISUAL INSTALLATION Objects of Common Interest. The original light installation by the award-winning design studio Objects of Common Interest returns to Peiraios 260 this year, having by now become an integral part of the site’s visual identity. Founded by architects and designers Elena Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis – who work between Athens and New York – the studio focuses on the creation of sculptural objects and immersive environments that foreground the relationship between materiality and space.
(Source: https://www.athensvoice.gr/ /)
