The 1st “Anyfantou” Festival in Anogia

Tradition meets contemporary artistic creation at the 1st “Anyfantou” Festival, which will take place in Anogia on August 31 – September 1, 2025, with free admission for the public.

The festival is part of the Parallel Action “Women meet the 5th Crete Festival” and aspires to highlight the power of female creation, the dialogue between tradition and contemporary art and the role of free expression.

The title “Anyfantou”, which means weaver, becomes a symbol of artistic expression and female power: of the woman who “weaves” memory, voice and soul through her art. From a traditional craft of the past, weaving is today transformed into a metaphor for the new position of the woman-creator in the spotlight.

Festival Highlights

The program includes musical collaborations, film screenings, dance performances and open dance seminars. Among the highlights:

The musical meeting of Niki Xylouris with Maria-Christina Harper
The collaboration of Giorgis Xylouris with Yiannis Angelakas
The dance performance and seminar of Maria Manoukian
The screenings of films from Europe and Latin America curated by the Cultural Organization "Sysilo"
The speech of Niki Roumpanis, president of the European Women's Network, on weaving as a form of art and handicraft, on the occasion of the screening of the work "The Towel".

Sunday, August 31 – Opening with cinema and weaving

The festival opens with the film tribute “And the Unwoven” at the Cinema Theater of the Municipality of Anogia (11:30–14:00 & 18:30–20:00), with films that “weave” stories of memory, origin, loss and continuity, from Colombia to Crete and from the weavings of Latin America to the silences of Europe.

The day will culminate in Livadi Square (20:00–21:00) with the screening of the project Mitato Sessions: The Towel and a talk by Niki Roumpanis on the art of weaving, coordinated by Rita Soultatou.

A place of dialogue and creation

With thematic axes of the female creator and the fruitful meeting of tradition and contemporary art, the Anyfanto Festival aspires to transform Anogia into a vibrant place of artistic exploration, dialogue and authentic expression.