The Heart Of The Festivities

Kotzia Square once again becomes Athens’ main festive meeting point. Wooden chalets line the square with holiday treats, street food, gifts, and decorations, while a carousel and a free children’s area make it a favorite stop for families.

This year’s expanded edition brings daily live radio broadcasts, a fully programmed kids’ corner with creative workshops, and a continuous schedule of concerts and DJ sets on the main stage. Lively, accessible, and central, it’s the city’s most reliable festive hub for both locals and visitors.

Big Nights & Citywide Celebrations

Night of Wishes

24 December 2025 | Kotzia Square

One of Athens’ most touching Christmas Eve traditions returns as biodegradable lanterns rise into the night sky, carrying the wishes of thousands gathered in the square. Radio station Athens 9.84 broadcasts live from the site starting at 17:00, creating a shared soundtrack for this quietly magical ritual.

Athens New Year’s Eve Celebration

31 December 2025 | Syntagma Square

The city’s official New Year’s Eve countdown takes place in front of the Parliament, with live performances, dancing crowds, and fireworks lighting up the Athenian sky. The evening opens with festive selections by the Athens Philharmonic Band, setting the tone for the capital’s largest public celebration.

Music & Innovation

AI Christmas Orchestra

21 December 2025 – 4 January 2026 | Various Neighborhoods

In a unique collaboration between OPANDA and the Athens Digital Arts Festival, musicians perform live alongside an AI system that responds in real time, creating ever-changing soundscapes and light visuals. Performances pop up in neighborhood squares including Kypseli, Thymarakia, Agios Dimitrios, Mesolongiou, and Sepolia, bringing experimental holiday music into everyday city life.

Culture & Quiet Festive Escapes

Carols – Embroidered Songs of Christmas

Until 11 January 2026 | Museum of Folk Art & Tradition ‘Angeliki Hatzimichali’

A beautifully atmospheric exhibition in Plaka that explores Christmas and New Year carols from Greece, Southern Italy, and Cyprus, told through intricate embroidery. Ceramic and metal artworks produced by the city’s Clay Centre accompany the textiles, offering a reflective counterpoint to the city’s louder festivities.

Dickens: The Christmas Writer

31 December 2025 | Municipal Library

A thoughtful literary session for adults focusing on Charles Dickens’ enduring Christmas legacy. Combining reading and writing elements, the event takes place on the final morning of the year—an ideal pause before the night’s celebrations begin.

Family Activities & Learning Through Play

Christmas Bubble Shows & Festive Parades

20, 21 & 28 December 2025 | Kotzia Square & Athens Book Space

Aerial performances, giant bubble displays, and whimsical parades fill the streets with color and movement. The beloved La Petite Marguerite troupe returns with fantasy characters and bubble parades, creating joyful, crowd-pleasing moments for all ages.

Salt-Dough & Festive Boat Workshops

27 December 2025 | Athens Children’s Museum

Children aged 3–12 can drop in to create Christmas boats and holiday ornaments in hands-on workshops, held within the museum’s “Hello Pythagoras” exhibition space.

Astronomy Night

21 December 2025 | Parko Eleftherias (Athens Book Space)

A winter stargazing evening led by astronomers from the National Observatory. Participants can observe Saturn, the Moon, and other celestial highlights through telescopes, with guided explanations adding depth to the experience.

Rakomelo is a Greek mixed alcoholic drink.  It is a digestive spirit that's high in powerful antioxidants, like flavonoids, and it's been used as a home remedy for a sore throat or cough for centuries.

Rakomelo, a delectable blend of Raki (Crete's traditional spirit) and locally made honey, is the ideal alcoholic beverage to enjoy during the harsh winter months. It's even better when spiced up with cloves and cinnamon. During the summer, some people drink it at room temperature or even ice-cold, but the warm version is more popular.

Rakomelo's history dates back to the 12th century when the Peloponnese peninsula was occupied by the Franks. Others, though, place its story on  Crete and the Cyclades.

Rakomelo combines natural honey in complete harmony with the strong raki spirit, while cinnamon and clove buds bring the final touch to a distinctive and outstanding flavor, regardless of the real narrative.

Apart from being served Rakomelo in a cafe, bar, or taverna, you can buy this bottled in shops that sell traditional Greek products, especially Cretan ones.

Ingredients
    •    1lt of raki or tsikoudia (grape pomace drink)
    •    4-5tbs of honey
    •    2 cinnamon sticks
    •    4-5 cloves

Directions
Place the ingredients in a pot and boil them on a low fire, while stirring continuously. As soon as they boil sufficiently, turn off the flame and leave the rakomelo covered for approximately another 10’ to absorb the flavoring. Remove the cinnamon and cloves. Serve immediately or refrigerate in a bottle.

Recipe by iCookGreek.

Christmas is the most important – and perhaps the most treasured – celebration of Christianity filled with joy and love. Countries around the world celebrate with different customs that have deep roots within history and tradition. In Greek tradition, there are a variety of similarities in the commemoration of the birth of Christ and Dionysus, thus between ancient and contemporary Greece.

In December, the ancient Greeks celebrated the birth of Dionysus, calling him “savior” and “divine infant.” According to Greek mythology, his mother, Semele, was a mortal woman and his father was Zeus, the king of all Gods. The priest of Dionysus held a pastoral staff as did the Good Shepherd. On December 30, ancient Greeks commemorated his rebirth.

The most well-known custom throughout the Christian world are the Christmas carols, songs dedicated to the occasion. Also in ancient Greece there were specific “carols” for the rebirth of Dionysus. Specifically, Homer — during his stay on the island of Samos, along with a group of children, composed carols. In ancient Greece, carols symbolized joy, wealth and peace, and the children sang the carols only in the homes of the rich. Children would go from house to house, holding an olive or a laurel branch adorned with wool (a symbol of health and beauty) and different kinds of fruits. The children brought the olive branch to their homes and hung it on the doors where it remained for the rest of the year.

A New Year’s cake, which since early Christian times has been called Vasilopita, or St. Basil’s cake, also resembles an ancient Greek custom, as ancient Greeks used to offer Gods a “festive bread” during rural festivals, such as the Thalysia or the Thesmophoria.

 

To learn more and view this article in full, please visit: Greek Reporter

In his native Syria, Ibrahim Al-Hussein often swam in the Euphrates River. He would climb to the top of the Deir ez-Zor suspension bridge, jump and dive into the water.

In 2011, the civil war in Syria started. Al-Hussein’s neighborhood was shelled and the bridge was destroyed. Al-Hussein lost part of his right leg.

This week on 26 April, the 27-year-old athlete carried the Olympic Flame in Athens as part of the torch relay during the Olympia Torch Lighting Ceremony for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Al-Hussein ran with the flame through the Eleonas refugee camp in Athens, home to around 1,500 displaced people. The act aimed to build empathy for refugees at a time when nearly 60 million people worldwide have been forced to leave their homes, the highest number since World War II.

Al-Hussein’s run with the Olympic Flame is part of a number of initiatives surrounding the Olympics intended to bring attention to refugees. Between five and 10 registered refugees are expected to participate in the Olympics later this year as part of team “Refugee Olympic Athletes.”

“After 20 years, I have achieved what I dreamed of,” Al-Hussein told UNHCR, the United Nations' refugee agency. “I used to dream to be a participant in the Olympics. Now, I have achieved more than that. I have achieved carrying the flame.”

To read this article in full, please visit: ABC News

Since the dawn of time, all around the world, the profession of a doctor is the most appreciated one. Being a doctor means having a great responsibility because almost every day the quality of someone’s life (or the life itself) is in their hands. Health is our greatest treasure and with great doctors, there is a better chance for the healthier population.

The Faculty of Medicine has listed 7 countries that produce the best doctors in the world and Greece is number 7. Analyzing the most famous doctors in the world, The Faculty of Medicine gave each country 1 point for every doctor who achieved groundbreaking progress in the world of medicine or contributed greatly to medicine in any other way.

Greece, receiving 3 points, is the birthplace of one of the greatest figures in the history of medicine. Hippocrates, considered to be the ‘Father of Western Medicine,’ established medicine as a professional discipline, known as one of his greatest achievements.

Coming in at number 6 is Austria, who produced one of the greatest minds in psychology and psychiatry, Sigmund Freud. Freud is credited with coining the term psychoanalysis and revolutionizing the study of dreams with his well-known work, ‘The Interpretation of Dreams.’ In addition to Freud, Hans Asperger identified Asperger’s syndrome as a mental disorder.

Number 5 is Australia, known for Howard Florey is who penicillin available to the world. Sir Alexander Fleming discovered the substance, but Florey made the discovery historically significant.

Switzerland comes in at number 4 with Carl June, founder of analytic psychology and Herman Rorschach, who invented the inkblot test.

Hailing from Germany, at number 3, is Erik Erikson who developed the concept of ‘identity crisis.’ Other notable German doctors are Paracelsus, Rudolf Virchow, and Hans Eysenck.

United Kingdom is listed as number 2 with most being people familiar with Sir Conan Doyle and Sir Alexander Fleming, who are credited with discovering penicillin. Edward Jenner discovered the Smallpox vaccine and James Parkinson defined what is known as Parkinson’s disease.

The United States tops the list at number 1, a country producing some of the best doctors in the world. American doctors have made the most lifesaving discoveries, including Alfred Blalock who changed the fate of cardiovascular science forever and Clarence Walton Lillehei, who pioneered open heart surgery. In addition, Ben Carson was the first neurosurgeon to have successfully separated conjoined twins at the head.

To read this article in full, please visit: The Faculty of Medicine