Beginning July 25th and running through August 12th, the 2022 Rokka Festival promises to be the most colorful ever.
Co-organized by the Region of Crete and the cultural associations of Rokka and Kera, the festival is an extravaganza of music, theater, visual arts, and cultural activities held in Kissamos in Crete’s far west.
The villages, the famous archaeological site, will be transformed into a cultural carnival atmosphere where local and international craftsmen, artists, and the light magic of Dr. Shizuka Hari come together with these warm Cretan villagers for a spectacle like no other. Hari’s gift, the art of illumination, will shapeshift Rokka, and with the month’s full moon, present an awe-inspiring thematic.
Shizuka Hariu, who combines architecture and scenography, will help create this year’s overtone of illumination to create a visible and invisible world that blends past glories with present wonders and future dreams.
Rokka will become a meeting place of the past and of the future, where the life that once existed in the villages with the life that we dream that we will come again. For those unfamiliar, Ancient Rokka is one of the most captivating and beautiful places in Greece.
On a clear day, one can see from the top of the ancient rock views over both Gramvousa and the Rodopos peninsulas and the gulf of Kissamos. The village, which is at the end of a magnificent gorge, sits in the middle of a stunning natural landscape.
The Rokka Festival will kick off with a concert featuring Eleni Tsaligopoulou with renowned virtuoso musicians like Manolis Pappos, Fotis Σιώτας, Giannis Papageorgiou, and Spyros Hadjiconstantinou.
On the day of the Full Moon, 12 August, Evanthia Reboutsika returns 9 years after her premiere performance at the first Rokka event. Opening for her will be Cretan violinist John Μαγειρόπουλος, one of the most talented artists on the island.
Also this year, there will be unparalleled educational activities like the artworks of more than 50 carvers from all over Crete, dance, photography, film, and even astronomy workshops.
For more information and the planned schedule so far, please visit the official Rokka site here, or consult the original press release of the Region of Crete.