Vamvakou, Lakonia, 30 June 2025 – The Vamvakou Experience Festival is now over…and village life has been rediscovered!

For two days, Vamvakou, Lakonia was not just a village situated on the slopes of Mount Parnon. Vamvakou became a stage, a dining table, a playground, a shelter, a hangout space and an open embrace for all; an intake of breath that we all longed for!

The Vamvakou Experience Festival 2025, held on 28 and 29 June 2025, was not just another cultural event — it was a shared experience. For the fifth year, the village put on its best, and we experienced perhaps one of the most vivid and intense moments so far. Visitors of all ages, mostly from the Peloponnese and Athens, joined us. 19 free admission events attracted over 1,800 participants. Two magical days in a village that is being reborn, and a festival implemented within the framework of the Vamvakou Revival Initiative by Vamvakou Revival, with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) at its side.

In just one weekend, the village was transformed into a colourful and bright mosaic of experiences! From the full of energy concerts of Skiadareses and Panos Vlachos, to the explosive tarantella of Encardia, the enchanting clarinet of Alexandros Arkadopoulos and the lute of Ilias Kappakos, every note resonated through the fir trees and the mountain peaks. Voices, hands, hearts, footsteps, and people of different generations came together.

During the festival, we cooked, learned gastronomy secrets, and tasted omelette with sygklino ham and Laconian samousades in a live cooking session with Akis Petretzikis held at the village square. The village was celebrating and as in every such occasion, wood-fired ovens were smoking since the early Saturday morning; the women took up the leaven; young and old kneaded the dough, baked and tasted freshly baked breads in an interactive event led by THE TELOS SOCIETY, hosted by the members of the Vamvakou Women’s Cooperative and the women of the village, in collaboration with Nomade et Sauvage and bread sommelier, Dimitris Fragogiannis.

A walk through the village alleys revealed hidden stories and local secrets. Signs scattered across the village, soundscapes and notes on the walls—all part of the digital cultural route “Vamvakou narrates its stories”—were introduced to the public for the first time. A route curated by Erato Koutsoudaki, presented together with Zoi Dracopoulou.

The village square became the stage for the Greek National Opera (GNO) Ballet dancers, who —through femininity and the power of the body— reminded us that art knows no spatial boundaries. For the past three years, we have been honoured by the GNO Ballet director, Konstantinos Rigos, who has been actively present and has already thought up new ideas for the next Vamvakou festival!
In the forest, pilates and techno yoga gave us the opportunity to close our eyes and listen to our inner self, with aromatherapy in the foreground this year, too. Techno music and the sound of Kato Vrysi mingled, and the party was on!

For two days, children didn’t stop exploring: they engaged in stone painting, made wooden structures and tinkered, smelled herbs and made perfumes, skateboarded, learned archery and pursued the vital goal of life in nature! Led by Loupes, they printed t-shirts, posters and fabric bags, making the donkey of the village famous and the new summer trend. This year again, every alley, every water fountain and the school became a space of creativity and imagination.

But the most powerful component of this great celebration was its people. Locals and visitors, younger and older. Those who left their towns and moved to the mountain joined us, too. We all conversed with one another on terraces, sang in the square and shared stories. In the end, we all became part of the same place and its history!

Vamvakou Revival would like to express its gratitude to everyone who contributed to this special experience: from the volunteers and artists to the villagers and the young forest explorers. Special thanks are owed to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) team for being by us once again, for their active support and practical assistance in the project of reviving our homeplace.

The Vamvakou Experience Festival 2025 is over, but our shared experience is the legacy kept in our hearts, across the trails, in the photos, and in our memories, reminding us that the village can be experienced differently — all you need is to be there! So, see you in summer 2026!

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