ATHENS – The Museum of Cycladic Art presents the second Cycladic Kids Festival September 21-22 at the Athens Conservatoire. The festival introduces for the first time activities for children at the archaeological site of Aristotle’s School (Lykeion). This year, children and teenagers aged 2-18 are invited to participate in the most creative weekend in the center of Athens with free admission. The Festival is held in collaboration with the Culture, Sports and Youth Organization of the City of Athens (OPANDA), the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens, with the support of the Ministry of Culture. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is Lead Donor, Eurolife FFH Strategic Partner and Coral Main Sponsor.

For the second consecutive year, the Museum of Cycladic Art creates a multidisciplinary arts festival, outside its premises, accessible to all children. On Saturday, September 21, 11 AM-8 PM, and Sunday, September 22, 11 AM-6 PM, the Athens Conservatoire, as the festival’s main venue, will host theater, music, dance performances, cinema, puppet shows, book narrations and visual arts workshops curated by the Department of Educational and Social Programs of the Museum of Cycladic Art, the School of Dance and Drama of the Athens Conservatory, the Kalamata International Dance Festival, the National Theatre, the Athens International Children’s Film Festival, the Hellenic Children’s Museum, the Flux School Next, the Centre for the Study of Modern Ceramics, El Sistema Greece, the Network for Children’s Rights, the puppet theatre group AFOU, Cinemathesis, the Center for Educational and Intercultural Communication ‘Karpos’, the online magazine for children’s books ‘Kokkini Alepou’ (Red Fox) and other multidisciplinary artistic groups. Moreover, the Athens Conservatoire will host an exhibition with the works and winners of this year’s 11th Kids’ Art Contest curated by the Museum of Cycladic Art with the title ‘Today’s Stories on Ancient Vases’ with 12,000 entries.

During this year’s festival: El Sistema Greece Youth Choir and Nadia Kontogeorgi present a unique musical experience, motivating the audience to discover and express their feelings through sound and voice. The National Theatre presents two delightful musicals by teenagers of the Young People’s Stage entitled ‘Stathmos’ and ‘Badluckenville.’ The puppet theatre group ‘Afou’ will make us all laugh with the interactive theatrical adventure ‘The Good and the Bad Pirates’ by Antonis Papatheodoulou and Iris Samartzi, while archeostoryteller Thodoris Papakostas will wonder ‘Can we fit all antiquity in 1 hour?’ offering a fun, educational retrospection of ancient history.

The Athens International Children’s Film Festival takes us on a journey through its films, offering unique film experiences for children and adults, while Cinemathesis introduces children to a unique mobile exhibition of pre-cinema visual games, offering experiential actions and constructions.
The Kalamata Dance Festival will deliver a workshop where children and parents will participate in movement games using their bodies! Flux School Next dancers will inspire children to explore their body movements through games using gravity and energy, aspiring to change the way they see things. Furthermore, the Athens Conservatoire Dance School will bring to life pediments that dance in the peristyle of the Conservatoire.

The Center for Educational and Intercultural Communication ‘Karpos’ will help us learn photo shooting techniques, using green screens to create singular roles and images inspired by the American photographer Cindy Sherman. The Centre for the Study of Modern Ceramics will give children the opportunity to become young entrepreneurs, creating their imaginary store with color and clay, while at the same time they will watch a pottery wheel demonstration and familiarize themselves with the art of pottery. The Network for Children’s Rights will invite children to paint the games they play and place them in the “city of rights.” Finally, the educational department team of the Museum of Cycladic Art will invite children to participate in weaving, doll making, engraving and painting workshops, among many other inspired activities!

Over thirty publishing houses responded to the call of the Kokkini Alepou and the Museum of Cycladic Art to create the Cycladic Kids Festival children’s library where children and their loved ones can choose books to read for free. In addition, scheduled book narrations will be held by people of different ages. Reading paths are drawn within the museum that will lead readers discover books with the secrets of everyday life. All books will be donated to Library4All to travel to schools throughout Greece.

The archaeological site of Aristotle’s School (Lykeion) in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens, will host activities that will enable children to learn about ancient Greek history in a direct and creative way. In the ‘Narrative Walk,’ parents and children will tour Aristotle’s School, like Aristotle did with his disciples, uncovering aspects of everyday life in ancient Greece. In the workshop ‘The Mystery of Lost Jewels,’ children will become researchers, solving riddles that enhance their imagination and provide them with information about ancient Athens. In the ‘Excavation’ workshop, they will uncover and piece together vase fragments depicting scenes from everyday life, such as Symposia and Olympic Games. Finally, the ‘Ancient lyre players of Orpheus,’ the first globally-certified performers of the ancient Greek seven-string lyre, will bring to life ancient Greek hymns with lyre, barbiton, drum and voice.

The program and participation instructions:

https://cycladic.gr/en/ekdiloseis/cycladic-kids-festival/.