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Festivals to take place in Greece this summer

Athens-based promoter Xlalala is putting on reimagined versions of its Long Beach and Urban Athens festivals this summer, with a line-up of domestic acts

By IQ on 12 Jun 2020

Festivals to take place in Greece this summer

Long Beach Festival 2.0 is taking place in Thessaloniki from 24 to 25 July


image © Pixabay

Long Beach Festival 2.0 and Urban Athens Festival 2.0, organised by promoter Xlalala, will ensure the festival season lives on in Greece this summer.

The two open-air festivals will see a selection of Greek acts including Visitors of Ioannina City, Pyx Lax and Vasilis Papakonstantinou perform on 24 to 25 July in Thessaloniki and 7 to 8 August in Athens.

“The original design for this summer may have changed unexpectedly, but the current conditions give us the opportunity to support our favourite artists and bands of the domestic music scene,” state organisers.

According to organisers, the 2.0 versions of the festivals represent “something brand new, something different, revolutionary, [and] totally revamped” from the originally planned events.

Xlalala had previously announced that the 2020 editions of Long Beach and Urban Athens, set to feature Uriah Heap and the Waterboys, would not be able to take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The current conditions give us the opportunity to support our favourite artists and bands of the domestic music scene”

The yearly Athens and Epidaurus Festival, which includes music, theatre and opera, is also going ahead in a modified form from 5 to 15 August. The programme has been cut down from 70 events to 17, with all taking place in open spaces.

Greek singers Giannis Angelakas and Monika will perform as part of the festival.

Having imposed a blanket ban on events early on in the pandemic, the government in Greece started to ease restrictions in May, and is allowing open-air live shows to restart from 15 July.

Restrictions include ensuring there is a distance of three metres between the stage and the first row of spectators; limiting capacity to 40% of a venue’s total; and keeping 1.5 metres between individual members of the audience.

Phase seven of the country’s reopening plan, which began this week, saw the restarting of much of the entertainment and leisure economy, including the reopening of open-air nightclubs and bars.

The pre-sale for the Long Beach and Urban Athens festivals can be accessed via Viva.gr and Hunter Agency, with tickets priced at €15.40.

 


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