Festivals Sani Festival

The distance from an idea to its realization in practice need not necessarily be a long one. This year’s 21th Sani Festival is living proof that with enthusiasm and commitment, anything can be achieved. It represents a triumphant vindication of those who first had the idea of the festival, and all those who have worked to make it a reality over the years. We can all take great pride in the way we have worked – with commitment, consistency and responsibility – to make the festival such a success, both for the participants and for the public who have supported us with such enthusiasm from the very beginning.

For 21 years now the Sani Festival has served the cause of the arts, promoting talent with professionalism and responsibility as an independent cultural institution which has earned enormous respect. The institution’s evolution has been slow but sure, starting with the original Jazz on the Hill festival, and adding further events to the programme in the form of classical music, Sounds of the World, and exciting Greek music from established performers and new talent. We have also introduced to the programme the rich theme of music from the movies, with the appeal of such legendary names as Michel Legrand and Peter Greenaway, as well as examples of the other arts in the form of exhibitions and theatrical performances, with many other innovative events that have seen the light for the first time on Sani Hill.

This year’s 21th Sani Festival will be an occasion for celebration – and, it goes without saying, a worthy successor to the nineteen festivals which have preceded it, full of outstanding performances and other events, rich in surprises.

The Sani Festival is an official member of the I.F.E.A. - International Festivals and Events Association Europe

Highlights 2013

As it enters its 21^st year and officially comes of age, the Sani Festival has laid the firmest possible foundations for the years ahead.

The Festival’s vigour and enthusiasm for the next decade are graphically represented in its new logo: a beating heart, expressing the passion and commitment of all those who work to make the Festival a success each year, the musicians and other artists from Greece and farther afield who give of their best each summer on Sani Hill, and the audiences who contribute their own enthusiasm and energy to the concerts and other events, playing an indispensable part in the Festival’s success.

This year’s Festival has some surprises in store. We are continuing to broaden the programme of events, with new features that we hope will attract even more public interest. The major highlight of the Festival, the Jazz on the Hill programme, will this year feature special "Female Jazz Vocalists" concerts, with performances by leading female jazz artists on 12^th-14^th July. The Greek music events in August will offer an intriguing programme of performers offering their own alternative styles of music. We will also be extending the Festival’s links with the cinema, organizing a ‘best of’ programme of selected short films. There will be a place, too, for the performing arts, as ethnic and classical music, theatre, cinema and the visual arts come together in an arts festival that is more appealing, more intriguing, with every year that passes.

The beating heart of the Sani Festival is sounding out the countdown as we wait for the curtain to rise on this year’s events – echoing our excitement and anticipation as we eagerly await another summer celebrating the arts, full of new emotions and magical moments.

Twenty-one years old. The Festival’s official coming of age is a triumphant vindication of all our original hopes and expectations, the best possible reward for the hard work of all those involved. Our enthusiasm is undimmed; our pleasure in the Festival’s success as great as ever. And we continue making our dreams and visions a reality, our original energy and commitment now enriched by twenty years of experience. As we approach this year’s opening night, we are ready for a Festival with many new features, and matching in quality anything we have done before.