elc team
Experience a unique Christmas at the SNFCC: Concerts, Performances, Ice Rink, Festival of Light Installations, Dancing Fountains, Film Screenings, Workshops
Once again, this year, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) is generously offering moments of magic and spreading the holiday joy, warmth, and hope, at a place that is established by now as the most beloved Christmas destination in the capital for millions of visitors.
The Ice Rink on the Canal, the Festival of Light Installations at Stavros Niarchos Park, the Dancing Fountains, the towering, decorated fir trees at the Agora and the 80 illuminated trees along the Canal, the glamorous lighting celebration on December 1, and the ever-spectacular event on New Year’s Eve are the components of an enchanting Christmas setting. They also form the background for a rich program of events that has something for everyone: concerts, performances and film screenings for the entire family, DJ sets, ice skating, games, workshops, happenings, to name a few of what will make this Christmas truly special for all!
The SNFCC’s Christmas world comes to life thanks to the grant of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). All activities and events are offered free of charge, or with an affordable ticket.
December 1, at 19.00: The SNFCC Christmas World comes to life | SNFCC Agora | Free admission
On December 1, at 19.00, the SNFCC is illuminated in a glamourous celebration hosted by actress and director Smaragda Karydi. The towering, decorated fir trees dominate the Agora, the plane trees along the Canal are garlanded with thousands of lamps that light up, and the stage is set to welcome VOX The Acapella Group, the first polyphonic pop group in Greece that uses the human voice as a musical instrument, as well as Sofia Strati who will offer us soul-funk tunes with her charismatic voice. Joining them, the Fountains in the Canal and the skaters on the Ice Rink will be dancing to popular Christmas beats.
The December 1 celebration will be broadcast live by ERT2
Ice Rink on the Canal
Dec. 01, 2024 – Jan. 07, 2025, 10.00–22.00
Free admission
On December 1, the Ice Rink emerges from the Canal, inviting all skaters, experienced or not, to dance on ice listening to their favorite Christmas tunes.
As always, visitors can find the Ice Rink on the northern bank of the Canal, where, apart from skating, they can enjoy the illuminated spectacle of the SNFCC and the Dancing Fountains, as they swirl about on their ice skates.
The Ice Rink will operate daily, from 10:00 in the morning to 22:00 in the evening, weather permitting.
SNFCC Ice Rink Sponsors: COSMOTE | Fysiko Aerio Hellenic Energy Company
Festival of Light Installations at Stavros Niarchos Park
Dec. 01, 2024 – Jan. 07, 2025, 17.00–00.00
Free admission
For one more year, Stavros Niarchos Park is shedding ample light on the holidays, inviting its visitors to a unique phantasmagoria. Six spectacular light installations by eminent international and Greek artists are this year’s choice on the theme Dreamy Dreams: Dreamy Landscapes of the Light Installation Festival.
Works that employ cutting-edge technology, while others create a dreamy atmosphere with their simplicity. Swirling stars, bright planets, sound waves, pulsating thoughts, and mystical rituals, immerse visitors in a magical tour, inviting them to participate, explore and rediscover the Park.
Visitors can wander around different parts of the Park—the Great Lawn, the Dome, the Pine Grove, the Water Jets, the Planted Roofs—and interact with the light installations, be photographed with their loved ones, and relish in the illuminated magic.
More specifically, visitors to the Great Lawn will come upon the work Wave by Squidsoup, an audiovisual experience consisting of approximately 500 individual luminous spheres. Then, a stop at the Dome reveals the work Pressure by Hans E. Madsen and Frederik D. Hougs, a large-scale luminous outline made of transparent tubes with embedded controlled pixel LED lighting. In the Pine Grove, they will be astounded by Vendel and de Wolf’s Error, an impressive swirling black hole that represents, in an abstract way, the connection between the randomness of the universe and that of technology.
“Did the moon fall from the sky?” wonder those who see Moonburn by the Stichting Barstow collective, a large balloon decorated with fluorescent paint, installed at the Water Jets, while the Planted Roofs are filled with bright five-pointed stars, the work EFCHI [Wish] by EVERYTHING Works. Finally, Pompe [Procession] by Eleni Maragaki and George Nikas is back, creating a landscape made of LED light columns placed on either side of the main path leading to the Park, starting from the intersection of Evripidou and Doiranis streets.
All light installations are accessible for people with disabilities.
December at the SNFCC: A month of celebration
From December 1st, when the SNFCC is illuminated, until New Year’s Eve, with the spectacular fireworks show and the big party at the Agora, a rich program with many surprises awaits visitors!
Theatrical performance for the entire family
Christmas Stories at the Lighthouse
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Shows on Dec. 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, and 30, and Jan. 01, 03, 04, 05 and 06 | 18.30 on weekdays and 18.00 on Sundays
Perhaps the most famous Christmas story of all time is presented in a new theatrical adaptation and direction by Ektoras Lygizos (based on the translation by Maria Angelidou). Using the group narrative of a young ensemble (Giorgos Fourtounis, Sofia Kokkali, Vicky Kyriakoulakou, Ektoras Lygizos, Manos Vavadakis, Eva Vlassopoulos, Giorgos Ziakas), the fast and spectacular action, a sense of humor, music, and songs (original music score and on-stage musician: Kornilios Selamsis) as his primary tools, Lygizos will be reviving on stage the emotional and moral turnabout of one of the most enjoyable misanthropes of world literature.
Ebenezer Scrooge, an incurable miser and a hard-hearted usurer, has been living closed off for years, nursing hatred for people – and especially for Christmas! But this year’s holiday is different: On Christmas Eve, he is visited successively by a ghost from the past and three spirits, who take him along on a fascinating journey through time that will bring him back in touch with the lost feelings of joy and love.
Concerts
The SNFCC’s Christmas World could not but be flooded by music! On December 16, at the Stavros Niarchos Hall, the intercultural symphonic orchestra and youth choir of El Sistema Greece is affording this Christmas a cinematic dimension, presenting popular songs from favorite musicals and timeless soundtrack hits, joined by soloists Myrsini Margaritis and Nikos Karagiaouris. The orchestra will be conducted by Kyriaki Kountouri and the chorus by Vagia Papagiannopoulou.
On December 23, again at the Stavros Niarchos Hall, the Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra (ERT National Symphony Orchestra) is presenting a festive program with three classic works: the great zoological fantasy “The Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saëns; the “Triptych for Two Pianos” by Christos Papageorgiou; and the Suite from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “Christmas Eve.”
Finally, the festive season is concluded with a concert-tribute to jazz legend Louis Armstrong by Storyville Ragtimers, titled “Black & Blue,” which will take place at the Agora on January 6, with free admission.
New Year’s Eve
Like every year, on December 31, the SNFCC Christmas World reaches the peak of its glamour. The famed New Year’s Eve at the SNFCC, that has been established as a standing holiday appointment for thousands of visitors of all ages, has it all: Ice Skating until 02.00, spectacular fireworks, Jérôme Kaluta as its host, concert by Ian Stratis, DJ set by Nicola Lavacca, and, of course, the first race of the year, the SNF RUN: 2025 FIRST RUN of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), realized in cooperation with the nonprofit “Regeneration & Progress” under the scientific supervision of the Sports Excellence Center of the 1st Department of Orthopedic Surgery of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). Registration for the run opens on Monday, December 02.
Christmas Pop-up Bar at the Lighthouse
From December 22 to January 7, from 17.00 to 23.00, as part of the Christmas World, the Lighthouse’s Terrace is transformed into a new Christmas Pop-up Bar, the ultimate Christmas meeting point for SNFCC visitors. Architect and set designer Elina Loukou is redesigning a Pop-up Bar at the Lighthouse for this year’s celebrations, offering panoramic views of the SNFCC and the light installations at Stavros Niarchos Park. Well-known DJs and music producers on the decks from 20.00 to 22.30 and a long list of cocktails complement the experience.
Park Your Cinema: Christmas Edition
The popular series of movie screenings is back at a new spot and in a Christmas edition! From December 21 to January 6, at 18.00 every evening, visitors meet at the Park Kiosk of Stavros Niarchos Park, where classic and beloved Christmas movies are screened for the entire family.
Christmas Makers’ Market: The handmade magic of the holidays
From December 21 to January 7, the Christmas Makers’ Market is making its debut at the SNFCC, aiming to transform the Mediterranean Garden of Stavros Niarchos Park into a festive meeting point and creativity hub. Well-established and up-and-coming creators gather to share original handmade gifts with visitors, as well as to help them make their own creations in real time.
SNFCC Christmas Makers’ Market Sponsor: COSMOTE
More Christmas experiences for all
The SNFCC’s Christmas World also hosts workshops for children and adults, daily surprise happenings at the Agora, festive sports programs, as well as a series of vibrant musical and educational activities curated by the SNFCC Youth Council. At the same time, Christmas cookies and cupcakes, delicious melomakarona and panettone, crepes and waffles, hot chocolate and wine, cocktails, soups and many more festive treats await visitors at the SNFCC’s dining areas, while the SNFCC Store has, as always, many special gifts to choose from
