Hundreds of drones will take to the sky above Heraklion on Monday evening, creating a spectacular synchronized show over Jesus Bastion and marking the opening of the 3rd Walls Festival.
The drone show begins at 8:30 p.m. on August 31, with the aerial display designed to create a series of images above the city while highlighting Heraklion’s imposing Venetian fortifications.
The spectacle launches a festival that will bring more than 35 events to the historic walls and surrounding spaces through September 10, with music, cinema, theatre, dance and visual arts. Most events have free admission.
The opening night continues at 9 p.m. at the Bethlehem Open-Air Cinema, where audiences can watch Franz (2025), a 127-minute film about Franz Kafka, his struggle for artistic expression, his relationship with his father and his passionate relationships with women.
At 9:30 p.m., the focus shifts to music at the Nikos Kazantzakis Garden Theatre, where Dimitra Galani and Eleni Tsaligopoulou will appear with the Estoudiantina Nea Ionia Volou orchestra.
Conducted by Andreas Katsigiannis, the concert will also feature singer and musician Vasilis Prodromou. The program moves through different eras and traditions of Greek music, bringing together popular song, Smyrnaic and Asia Minor influences, and contemporary interpretations.
The Walls will also become an outdoor gallery during the festival. Large-scale digital reproductions of works from the Municipal Art Gallery of Heraklion have been installed at the entrances to Vitturi Gate and the Manos Hatzidakis Garden Theatre.
Several of the works are being displayed in this format for the first time, creating a striking connection between Heraklion’s Venetian heritage and the city’s artistic identity.
Events will unfold across the fortifications, including Jesus Bastion, Makasi, Pantokrator, Saint George and Vitturi Gates, the Saint Andrew and Bethlehem bastions, Freedom Square, 18 Anglon Square and the Nikos Kazantzakis and Manos Hatzidakis Garden Theatres.
This year’s festival is also the first to take place following the signing of a cultural development agreement between the Municipality of Heraklion, the Region of Crete and the Ministry of Culture for the protection, enhancement and promotion of the city’s Venetian fortifications and arsenals.
For at least one September evening, Heraklion’s old walls will have a rather spectacular new ceiling: the sky.
