Epoches (Seasons) – Tribute to Manolis Anagnostakis

“Words must be nailed down like pegs, so that the wind cannot carry them away.” “I think today we must be skeptical. And above all, we must not delude ourselves.” The singers come on stage and everyone sings “Old Roads” together. The main event of the 60th Dimitria Festival is dedicated to the poet Manolis Anagnostakis and the centenary of his birth. It begins with the poet seemingly present, speaking to us through videos as if he were right next to us, and actor Grigoris Valtinos narrating his biography in a simple manner. Everything he experienced, everything he wrote, everything he taught us, everything we read, sang, and loved: “We will find a rock someday / A deserted island like in the books / There we will build our homes.”

Director Katerina Evangelakou curates the highlight of the 60th Dimitria Festival, composing a performance where poetry and music, testimonies such as those of Titos Patrikios and Mikis Theodorakis, as well as snapshots of Anagnostakis himself talking about his life, will unfold his life and work.
Sensitivity, melancholy and joy, struggle, bitter humor and subtle irony, the Thessaloniki of Aigyptou and Misrachi streets, the stadium and the café, are recreated in a multimedia performance accompanied by well-known performers, the Thessaloniki Municipal Symphony Orchestra, and songs composed
especially for this year’s 60th Dimitria Festival.