A few days ago, the 68th Philippi Festival came to an end, perhaps the most demanding and certainly the most complex and comprehensive festival of recent years. With our pulses still racing and our hearts overflowing with gratitude for all the small and large encounters that took place during the festival, we feel more strongly than ever the need to thank all those who contributed to its great success this year.
The President, Mr. Archelaos Granas, the Board of Directors, Artistic Director Eva Oikonomou-Vamvaka, and the theater staff would like to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported all of the Festival events with their moving presence. However, above and beyond this, we owe a huge thank you to the “unsung heroes,” the people who, although often invisible, make this historic institution possible every year through their presence and contribution.
Firstly, we would like to thank the volunteers of the 68th Philippi Festival who, for yet another year, stood by us in a touching way, offering us their valuable help and time. We would also like to thank the Municipality of Kavala, which funded all of the Festival’s activities, and the Ministry of Culture and Sports, whose support made the 9th International Workshop on Ancient Drama possible.
We would also like to thank the Archaeological Service of Kavala, especially the archaeologists who stayed up all night with us, the Cleaning Service and Technical Service of the Municipality of Kavala, EKAV, the Police Department and Traffic Police of Kavala, the Krinides Police Station, the Port Authority and the Port Authority of Kavala, the Building and Urban Planning Department and the Architectural Council of Kavala, the Fire Department of Kavala, Thassos Ferries, the Marmita Microbrewery of Kavala, the Regional Department of the Greek Red Cross of Kavala, and Dr. Kyriaki Testempasi, who all provided their valuable services free of charge at all the performances.
At the same time, we would like to thank our sponsors: BEH Polyethylene Pipe Industry, as well as our media sponsors ERT3, ERT Kavala, Cosmote TV, Efimerida ton Syntakton, culturenow.gr, Theatermag.gr, KOITA MAGAZINE, viewtag.gr, and in2life.gr for their practical support. Finally, we would like to thank all the media and journalists who contributed significantly to the success of this major event by giving us their time and space.
And because behind every performance lies the contribution of many special people, we would like to thank the administrative team (Tonia Manali, Efi Primikirlidou, Vera Lazaridou, Chrysa Pourtoulidou, Michaila Pliaplia, Olympia Sougari, Stacy Hintri, Giota Dimitriadi, Stavroula Savvidou) and the technical staff (Giorgos Mastorakis, Giannis Stavridis, Kostas Garoufalis, Giorgos Triantafyllidis, Panagiotis Lazaridis, Dimitris Hatzopoulos) staff of the Municipal Regional Theatre, who supported all the activities with their ideas and energy, as well as Lili Dalani, Doreta Pantazi and Anzelika Kapsampeli, who supported us on a daily basis. We would also like to thank Toucan Advertising Agency, which managed the Festival’s social media presence this year. Finally, we would like to thank Ioannis Tsigas, not only for his special graphic design for the 68th Philippi Festival, but also for his unique ideas, which often “saved the day.” We would also like to thank engineers Dimitris Geropoulos and Panagiotis Tzinas for their valuable contribution. And, of course, we thank from the bottom of our hearts all the artists who participated in our productions and put their heart and soul into them. Nothing would have been the same without them.
Special mention should be made of the innovation introduced for the first time this year at the Festival: the addition of Greek and English subtitles to the performances at the Ancient Theater of Philippi. This made the performances more accessible to everyone, both foreign visitors and the wider Greek audience, enhancing the institution’s extroversion and accessibility. This would not have been possible without the valuable contribution of the Central Archaeological Council, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kavala and its director Stavroula Dadaki, architect Michailas Pliaplias, as well as the excellent collaboration with Athanasios Valavanis, D:TEK, Vyzikas Scaffolding, and Supertitles.gr. In this context, we would also like to thank Panagiotis Lazaridis and Stella Dimitriadi, who undertook the management of the subtitles.
And so, the 68th Philippi Festival goes down in history, although its colors will remain indelibly etched in our minds. And we, still stunned by the “small annual miracle” that took place around us, bid you farewell, renewing our appointment for next year, when we hope that our steps will take us even higher.
