4th Cycladic Kids Festival: A Two-Day Celebration of Art, Creativity and Inclusion
What if children could discover sensory workshops, film screenings, theatre performances, dance, cooking, clay, photography, concerts, stand-up comedy, sculpture, painting, video animation, augmented reality and even a mobile skatepark — all within one exciting two-day celebration and with free admission?
This is exactly what the 4th Cycladic Kids Festival, organized by the Museum of Cycladic Art, is bringing to Athens on September 26 and 27.
The festival will take place at the Athens Municipality Arts Center in Eleftherias Park, creating a vibrant meeting point where children, teenagers, parents and visitors can explore art and culture together.
A Festival Inspired by Children's Voices
One of the most distinctive elements of the festival comes from the 13th International Painting Competition, which invited 12,500 children and teenagers from around the world to express their vision of a museum that truly belongs to them.
Under the theme “The Museum I Want to Be…”, children responded through drawings and recordings, sharing their ideas about what a museum could look and feel like.
Their ideas became part of the inspiration for the festival programme. Many of the activities have received their titles from works that were awarded or distinguished in the competition.
Art, Clay, Food and Creative Exploration
Among the many activities, a large amount of natural clay will transform part of Eleftherias Park into a collective creative space. The team of Messy Play Hehe Art will invite visitors to create a collective spiral using sensory materials.
On the following day, participants will have the opportunity to create a huge Cycladic boat and become part of the experience, rowing together in an imaginative journey.
The Loups will introduce children to screen printing, allowing them to print on fabric and create the flag of their own imaginary museum.
Through the Museum of Cycladic Art's educational kit “Food in Ancient Greece”, AGALE will lead children on a sensory journey through aromas, textures and flavours.
Children will identify herbs and spices by smell and, wearing chef hats and aprons, prepare their own healthy energy bites.
Discovering Cycladic Culture
The Directorate of Refugee Education will bring together children from different backgrounds, introducing them to the world of the Cyclades through the educational kit “Cycladic Culture.”
The Boulouki team will invite children to discover traditional building techniques using authentic materials, stones and clay mortar, while creating their own constructions.
Faye Chatzi will present a weaving workshop using natural stones and colourful threads, inspired by the distinctive colours and landscapes of the Cyclades.
Theatre, Dance and Performance
The theatre group TOPI will meet young and older audiences through two performances filled with humour, interaction and imagination.
A(r)CT will present the dance-theatre performance “Parallel Yellow Lines” and invite the audience to participate in the dance event “EVERYWHERE.”
Katerina Gevetzi and Demi Papathanasiou will explore new ways of connecting the body, space and works of art through an inclusive dance workshop for people with and without disabilities.
Dance will also be represented by “The Goats Know the Way,” which connects children's artworks with musical narratives filled with movement, action and humour.
Inclusion and Accessibility at the Heart of the Festival
Inclusion is a central part of the 4th Cycladic Kids Festival. In collaboration with accessibility specialists liminal, the organizers have designed a celebration intended to be accessible to a wide range of visitors.
The accessibility programme includes, among other services, interpretation in Greek Sign Language, subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors, audio description, Braille materials and tactile maps for visitors with visual disabilities.
Workshops will also include adaptations and preparatory material designed to support neurodivergent visitors.
Skateboarding, Comedy, Books and Cinema
The festival extends beyond traditional arts activities. On Saturday, Free Movement will set up its mobile skatepark and invite teenagers to discover skateboarding.
The stage will also welcome Greek stand-up comedians Vyronas Theodoropoulos and Michalis Mathioudakis.
Throughout the two-day event, youth bands created through the Band Workshop for Kids & Teens will perform their own musical creations.
At Athens Book Space, the Library of the Lighthouse for the Blind and the SEARCH Children's Library will offer books, while Koula Panagou will invite children and adults to transform stories, images and exhibits into a collective visual museum.
The Athens International Children's and Youth Film Festival will also present short films designed to be accessible to children with visual, hearing and neurodevelopmental disabilities, as well as children on the autism spectrum.
Practical Information
Location:
Athens Municipality Arts Center,
Eleftherias Park,
Vasilissis Sofias Avenue
Metro Station:
Megaro Mousikis
Saturday, September 26: 11:00 – 21:00
Sunday, September 27: 11:00 – 18:00
Admission: Free