In 2020., it was necessary to reduce the gatherings in order to save the lives of those amongst us who are the most vulnerable. Consequentially, cultural buildings were closed for public. Museums closed their doors and theaters closed their lights and their curtains to get some rest until the better days arrive. They are sleeping, like all the nature around them. But is there a way to wake them up?
These videos, to us, are a symbol of the invincibility of culture and the city, and the reminder of the fact that, even if the cultural buildings are closed – poetry, theatre, museums, still go on, because the culture, just like the city, is an exchange amongst the people who love it, create it, and share it with others, even under circumstances that are harder than usual. This is a small reminder that, even if the public places are closed, we can still find ways to celebrate the things we love in the spirit of solidarity and community.
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Author
Thessalian Poetry Festival
Panthessalian Poetry Festival started its course in 2013, when it was organized for the first time in Larissa, in the context of the celebration of the World Poetry Day. Its founders are the poets Thanos Gogos , Sotiris Pastakas and Antonis Psaltis ,with the valuable help of the author and publisher Stathis Intze. A few days after the success of the first Festival, the literary magazine "Thrace" was created, which made its first post on the internet. For 7 years Thrace has been consistently organizing the Festival, while for the last three years the Deputy Mayor of Culture and Science of the Municipality of Larissa has been collaborating in its holding, with the support of the Region of Thessaly and the French Institute. The goal from the first moment was to gather new talented poetic voices in collaboration with already recognized poets; a meeting that would prove to be creative, combining enthusiasm, dynamism and experience, and would bring a renewed interest in culture and poetry in Larissa. The immediate response of the poets from its first event, its spread and the embrace from the city of Larissa seal this eight-year course, with the main feature of the unprecedented attendance of the world, which becomes even more important if we consider that it concerns a non-mass species art, such as poetry. In this course the Festival expands every year both in terms of its duration (from one day it was at the beginning it became two days, then four days and this year it covers a week) and in terms of content, which is enriched every year with poetry evenings, performances , arts interaction and social activities always in connection with poetry and culture. Also important is the opening that took place very quickly and beyond the local level, since every year tributes are made to an honored city or region, from which poets are invited to the Festival.
