KASTELLORIZO – The first ever Kastellorizo Puzzle Festival takes place September 24-26. A great effort, an important idea is approaching its realization, with many expectations both for this year's event and for future prospects. The main goal is for scientific knowledge to reach everyone – young and old – in a simple, accessible and enjoyable way.

For this reason, there will be no speeches of academic style, but simple discussions, scientific events in the form of a game or theatrical narration, impressive experiments that will explain everyday topics, tours, Stand up Science for children, exhibitions, theatrical / musical workshops and workshops where children will learn to construct “Karagiozis” figures, and especially countless puzzles that will persistently ask for their solution.

The following examples include just a few of the numerous activities:

• The mathematician and founder of the Puzzle Museum, Pantazis Houlis, will highlight what a puzzle is through simple speeches ("Trojan Puzzle", "Archimedes Ostomachion"), and in addition there will be an enriched lecture on Kastellorizo.
• Michael Toulouzas, award-winning puzzle maker and member of the International Puzzle Party, will present an impressive exhibition with samples of his award-winning puzzles.
• The distinguished professor of the University of Crete, Michael Lambrou, will approach mathematics through entertaining narratives and mathematical tricks.
• Kosmas Gazeas, astrophysicist, from the Department of Astrophysics at the University of Athens, will show visitors how to touch the planets and travel mentally in our solar system through his interactive exhibition Planets In Your Hand.
• Researchers (a) from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research will present innovative actions on the marine environment and will discuss with children about the marine ecosystem, (b) from the Pasteur Institute will stimulate interest by playing with the curiosity of the public on biology and public health issues, (c) from the Eugenides Foundation/ Science and Technology Center will amaze with The Mathemagic and a series of original chemical experiments, and finally, the program could not miss out on the educational robotics / Stem courses entitled "My first automations" by the well-known organization Stem Education.

More than 50 scientists, researchers, educators, writers, actors and artists prepared their “puzzling” presentations, adapting them specifically to the requirements of this special festival. At the same time, Art in combination with Science will give an interesting and entertaining presence.The subversive team of Science Reactors with the well-known Stand up Science kids will give their own scientific guidelines “for the vaccine of love, to marined teenagers” on how to avoid the stress of learning, they will talk about artificial intelligence and the thought/computer relationship and will ask themselves "what is hacking" and if indeed there is the science of keeping secrets.

There will be narration of fairy tales by the authors themselves and discussion with them.  Michelle Kiosoglous will present her book "Kleio and Despina" with the manners, customs and tradition of Kastellorizo. Christos Kalountzoglou will talk about the fairy tale "The wet plank" and the pirate Manny Manny in Kastellorizo, a figure taken from the Greek archipelago, kneaded with saltiness and the adventures of the sea.

Music Lab – Theatrical Play by the actress Fotini Baxevani and construction of shadow theatre & Karagiozis figures by Christos Stanisis. Being inspired, creating a story of your own and expressing it through the magical world of theatre and music is not a… puzzle? But it's also a game! And if it seems like a brain teaser, then join their workshop!

The "Crew 94", the cheerful team from Patras, will conquer young and old with its Navigations and treasure hunt and will impress them with many surprises. The Puzzle Museum will be waiting for their visitors for guided tours.

From this year onwards, an international competition will be part of the Puzzle Festival: the “Megistian Aenigma Agon.” But what is this Agon? It is a Quadruple International Competition (inscription, illusion, invention and interaction). It is a celebration of games and puns for children from 0 to 150 years old, which presents to the world the leading role of Greece in puzzles and riddles.

The MAA (as well as the 14th KEC Puzzle Exhibition that began in 2008) will be part of the Kastellorizo Puzzle Festival.

In addition, the Festival reserves cultural/scientific evenings: Karagiozis performance, Star-observation, and concert with favorite folk, rebetika and Smyrneika songs with Tutti Blue and the well-known Stathis Raftopoulos singing.

The organization is coordinated by the Megisti Puzzle Museum and the Association EN.I.G.MA (Union of Ideas, Puzzles, Mathematics) in collaboration with Eleni Grammatikopoulou. The event is under the auspices of the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation, the Ministry of Development and Investments and the Ministry of National Defence. It is co-organized by the Region of South Aegean and is dynamically supported by the Municipality of Megisti. The festival takes place with the pro bono contributions of more than 50 participating researchers, academics, and educational institutions.

For more information: https://kastellorizofestival.com/.