Demetria

The Demetria Festival is organized each autumn by the City Council. First staged more than forty years ago, its programme runs from September through November and features leading names on the Greek and international arts scene – from the worlds of theatre, music, dance and the visual arts. The festival revives the old commercial fair of the same name, at which people brought produce in from the hinterland of the city to exchange for goods imported by sea; an important event in the calendar of the city, it offered an opportunity for interaction between peoples of different backgrounds and customs. This once glorious Byzantine festival, originating in the Golden Age of Thessaloniki (14th century), was revived in October 1966, as the New Festival, and over the subsequent years evolved into its present-day form.