Dimitria

In the Flow of Time

Sometimes it is the waters that connect it to the world. Sometimes it is the people who come and go. The languages that blend together. The ideas that travel. The arts that transform.
And today, more than ever, it is also the invisible currents, the energy that drives us, the digital networks that connect us, the information that traverses the planet at the speed of light, the images that shape our memory, and the algorithms that organize our daily lives.
The 61st Dimitria Festival is born out of this ceaseless and beneficial convergence. That is why we chose the keyword “Currents” for this edition
Not as a mere metaphor. But as a way to interpret our era, its places, its ways, and its arts.
Thessaloniki has always been a city of currents. Ocean currents brought goods, people, languages, and cultures. Historical currents have shaped it as a place of coexistence, movement, and exchange. Today, new currents—technological, social, and artistic—are reshaping the way we create, communicate, and exist.
The Dimitria do not stand in opposition to these changes. They are at the heart of them. The Dimitria are not interested in stagnation. They are interested in transition—the journey and the hidden charm it holds.
Where theater converses with dance. Music with the visual arts. Cinema with literature. The performing arts with digital forms of creation. Where boundaries become more porous and every encounter gives rise to a new possibility.
Because these currents do more than just carry us along. They shift our certainties. They alter our paths. They create unpredictable encounters. They know no borders nor do they adhere to divisions. They traverse places, eras, and aesthetics, connecting yesterday with today and the local with the global.
This is how we view this year’s Dimitria Festival. Not as a series of events, but as a space of circulation. A challenging space where works, creators, and the audience do not merely coexist, but influence one another. A place without predetermined paths, where art does not offer ready-made answers but generates energy, raises questions, and opens up new avenues of thought and experience.
The 61st Dimitria Festival invites you to discover together not only what unites us but also what moves us. Because art is not a harbor. It is a current. And currents change us.

Artistic Advisory Committee

Artistic Coordinator
Stefanos Tsitsopoulos
Journalist, writer

Dimitra Koronaiou
Choreographer, former Artistic Director
Professional School of Dance of Thessaloniki Municipality

Savvas Patsalidis
Theatre critic,
Emeritus Professor in the School of English Language and Literature,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Anastasios Symeonidis
Conductor, former Artistic Director
ERT Musical Ensembles

George Koumentakis
Project Coordinator, Artistic Director
Greek National Opera

Christos Galileas
Artistic Director
Thessaloniki Concert Hall

Simos Papanas
Artistic Director
Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra

Asterios Peltekis
Artistic Director
National Theater of Northern Greece

Head of Directorate of Culture & Tourism Development
Vasiliki Tricha

Head of Department of Events & Festivals Organization & Administrative Support
Athanasios Fylaktos

Production
Ioanna Iosifidou
Polyminia Karamike
Maria Koutsoumpaki
Maria Lamprinou

Administrative Support
Zoe Agathopoulou
Smaro Fanopoulou
Maria Orfanidou

Communication
Kyriaki Balta

Technical Support
Georgios Zygouris
Tryfon Kechagias
Ilias Seremetidis

Visual identity
Kemosabe Design Studio – Ioannis Ergeletzis

Translations
N. Drakoulis & Co. LP

Photography
Sakis Gioumpasis

Video
Dada Art – Gregory Apostolopoulos

Web content development
Blind Studio – Charis Karantzas

Ioannis Ergeletzis, founder of Kemosabe Design Studio, is the creative mind behind the visual identity of the 61st Dimitria Festival.

Ioannis Ergeletzis, founder of Kemosabe Design Studio, has designed the visual identity
for the 61st Dimitria Festival.

This year’s creative concept is built around the idea of Currents: the visible and invisible
forces that flow through Thessaloniki and continually transform life within the city. Currents
of people, ideas, collective memory and contemporary creativity meet across the urban
landscape, shift direction and form new cultural connections.

Within the visual identity, this sense of flow is expressed through fine lines, curves and an
abstract human figure composed of multiple profiles. At the centre of the composition is
the typographic mark 61 DMTR a contemporary, condensed interpretation of the word
“Dimitria”, giving the festival a strong and distinctive character.

Ioannis Ergeletzis explains:

“Thessaloniki is a city in constant transformation. The sea and the port, the
movement of its people, the traces of its history and the diverse cultural influences
it carries all come together to form a living network of exchange, motion and new
connections.

In this year’s identity, Currents take on a human and cultural dimension. Fine lines run
through the image like invisible forces, while the central figure is formed by multiple
profiles. They represent different voices, experiences and perspectives that coexist and
intersect within the city.

61 DMTR acts as a stable typographic axis within this constant movement. By removing
the vowels, the word ‘Dimitria’ is transformed into a contemporary typographic code: direct,
memorable and instantly recognisable. The clarity of the mark meets the movement of the
visual, just as the festival’s history meets its ongoing renewal.

I wanted to design an identity that feels alive, human and unmistakably festival-driven.
An image that does not simply describe Thessaloniki, but captures the energy created
when people, art and ideas come together and set the city in motion.”