Advance booking starts three weeks before each performance. Ticket reservation and telephone booking also possible by credit card (MASTERCARD or VISA), by sending a signed fax to the Fax Nr +30-210-9282933 or an E-Mail with the specific request: Name, exact date and performance, number and category of tickets, and the number and expire date of the credit card.
Student tickets 50% regular section only. Also valid for children from 6 to 18 years of age, parents of large families and soldiers.
Hellenic Festival S.A. organizes each year the two major cultural events in Greece: Athens Festival and Epidaurus Festival.
Athens Festival takes place since 1955 during the summer months and September at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. The Odeon was erected in AD 161 as a gift of Herodes Atticus for his wife, Regina. It is located underneath of Acropolis and has a capacity of 4.500 seats.
It is the main and most established cultural event in Greece collaborating with the Hellenic Ministry of Development, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the Greek National Tourism Organization. It includes opera, classical and contemporary dance, orchestras, recitals and classical and modern theatre, as well as special performances, and hosts the most established representatives of Greek and international cultural scene.
Throughout the years Athens Festival has presented the most important artists, as Maria Callas, Gina Bachauer, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karayan, Yehoudi Menuhin, Jose Carreras, Agnes Baltsa, Placido Domingo, Montserrat Caballe, Maurice Bejart, Rudolf Nureyev, Bolshoi Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, Pina Bausch, Kirov Ballet, Ute Lemper, Barbara Hendricks and many others.
The Epidaurus Festival takes place since 1954 in July and August at the ancient Theatre of Epidaurus in Peloponnese and presents ancient Greek Drama performances. The theatre was built in the 4th century BC and has a capacity of 14.000 spectators. The most important works of Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, Aristophanes are performed each year at the spectacular ancient theatre.
The Epidaurus Festival Museum, inaugurated in 2001 includes a costume exhibition based on apparel, masks, sketches, photographs and audiovisual material.
Hellenic Festival also uses the contemporary open air theatre of Lykabettus, in the center of Athens, for concerts during the summer months and September. The status of the theatre is rental (we host external productions) but there are some co-productions (theatre or concerts). Concerts held there for example are Vanessa Mae, Orbital, James, Lou Reed, Pet Shop Boys, Brian Ferry, Radiohead, and many others.
Starting from 2002, Hellenic Festival also presents performances in the beautiful Little Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. The performances combine music, poetry and drama and take place every Friday and Saturday in July.