Nicosia International Festival 2025 announces programme and new visual identity

The Municipality of Nicosia and Nicosia For Art, co-organisers of the Nicosia International Festival 2025, have announced the programme for the 6th edition of the Festival and unveiled its new visual identity.

As part of the presentation, a memorandum of cooperation was also signed with the Municipality of Paralimni–Deryneia, the implementation of which begins through the Nicosia International Festival 2025. The Memorandum was signed by the Mayor of Nicosia, Charalambos Prountzos, and the Mayor of Paralimni–Deryneia, Giorgos Nikolettos.

Welcoming the signing of the Memorandum, Prountzos emphasised that it marks a historic moment for the two municipalities, laying the foundations for a collaboration with significant cultural, institutional, and social impact.
“We consider culture to be a major industry for Nicosia,” he said, “and the work that was done as part of our bid to become European Capital of Culture serves as a compass for the direction we want the city to take in the coming years.”

He added, “Our vision for the next decade begins to materialise immediately, starting with today’s announcements, which mark the beginning of a long-term cultural movement. In this spirit, we are signing this Memorandum of Cooperation with the Municipality of Paralimni–Deryneia — a partnership based on our shared desire to bring culture closer to the people, to exchange experiences, and to join forces.”

The Mayor of Paralimni–Deryneia, Giorgos Nikolettos, stated that the Memorandum signals a new era for Cyprus’s cultural life. The cooperation between the two municipalities is a conscious and strategic decision aimed not only at strengthening their relationship but also at establishing Cyprus as a modern regional cultural hub.
“The relationship between our two municipalities is long-standing, vibrant, and meaningful, and today it gains a new, creative orientation,” Nikolettos said.
“I would like to express my admiration for the Nicosia International Festival, an institution of high artistic quality and outward-looking vision, which has decisively contributed to shaping the cultural landscape of our country,” he added.

Nicosia International Festival 2025: New identity, new logo, new programme

The logo unveiled was the result of a design competition won by the teams DpS Athens and Semiotik Design Athens.

At the heart of the designers’ vision lies the history of Nicosia — its walls. Originally built for defence, the city’s walls were a refuge for locals and foreigners alike. For Nicosia 2030, however, their role is evolving. They now represent the very core of the capital. The core of Cyprus. A nucleus that radiates and draws energy from all the cultures that have passed through, and the peoples that now coexist. It is fuelled by the diverse cultures that surround Cyprus — in the Mediterranean, in Europe, and in the world.

Following the visual identity reveal, the programme of the Nicosia International Festival 2025 was presented. Co-organised by the Municipality of Nicosia, the festival once again includes performances of theatre, music, and contemporary dance, along with a rich Parallel Programme.

In his address, Mayor Charalambos Prountzos stressed that this is a festival that reminds us each year that art knows no borders.

“A festival that transcends boundaries, that invites diversity, imagination, and creativity. One that makes space for bold ideas, that promotes inclusion, coexistence, and dialogue,” he said.
He added that this year, despite the lack of state support, “we continue with the same faith and determination to present our new visual identity — a new logo with a fresher perspective, reflecting the vibrancy and diverse character of Nicosia.”

On his side, the President of Nicosia For Art, Evgenios Evgeniou, emphasised that the Nicosia International Festival, co-organised with the Municipality of Nicosia, is not limited to showcasing performances.
“Everything we are doing today lays the foundation for Nicosia to remain present in the cultural sphere — open, progressive, and creative,” he said.

He also extended his thanks to the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, who, from the stage of the Nicosia Municipal Theatre, announced plans to utilise the expertise developed through this effort to operate in the model of the Rialto Theatre — as a cultural pillar for both the city and the district of Nicosia.

Artistic Director of the Festival and General Director of Nicosia For Art, Giorgos G. Papageorgiou, then presented the Nicosia International Festival 2025 programme.

He began by quoting the late theatre critic Nona Moleski (Phileleftheros, 2019): “I believe that the newborn Nicosia International Festival has already declared its identity. The characteristics that come to mind suit a person more than an institution: open-minded, generous, daring, adventurous.”

“These are words we hold dear,” he noted, “and we continue to bring them to life, together with the Municipality of Nicosia’s expanded cultural strategy.”

THE PROGRAMME

The official programme of the Nicosia International Festival 2025 begins on 14 September with an open-air electronic music party, free to the public, held outside the Nicosia Municipal Theatre.

This year’s programme features the ongoing collaboration between the festival and the Greek National Opera, along with the artistic director of its Ballet, Konstantinos Rigos, in the production Golden Age, which opens the NIF on 18 and 19 September. Also featured are a performance by internationally acclaimed Greek director Theodoros Terzopoulos in a production of Waiting for Godot by Emilia Romagna Teatro, and Michael Kohlhaas by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, directed by Boris Liješević.

Programme for children

The love for children and the investment in children has been a consistent strategic goal of the Festival, which seeks to build on its previous successful children’s performances (Still! A Statue That Travelled the World (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), The Lazy Dragon (2022, 2023), A Spinning Top and Once Upon a Time (2024)) by adding Trelantonis, directed by Panagiotis Larkou with music by Giorgos Hadjipieris.

#UNDER30 programme

Alongside internationally renowned artists, the Festival also continues to showcase Cypriot creators this year — both established and emerging. The Festival has launched the #UNDER30 Programme, aimed exclusively at Cypriot creators aged 30 and under.

MULTIMEDIA

This year’s festival places a strong emphasis on multimedia. The programme includes audiovisual performances combining music, song, and spoken word.

“The Nutcracker and I” – 28/12/2025

Technology meets The Nutcracker in the groundbreaking multimedia performance for solo piano, dance, and digital animation The Nutcracker and I by Romanian-born pianist Alexandra Dariescu. The performance aims to engage younger audiences and build bridges with those who are not yet familiar with classical music.

Anna Fo – “AND/DNA” – 29/11/2025

The audiovisual theatrical performance AND/DNA by Anna Fo (real name Anna Fotiadou) seeks to ‘speak’ of dystopia as a mirror of real and possible realities — political, social, and psychological. The artist explores the boundaries between image, text, and stage action, using video art, soundscapes, and live performance to deconstruct traditional narratives.

Pandelis Diamantides – “Ground Studies for Pilots – Bluets” – 23/12/2025

This two-part performance begins with internationally acclaimed artist and electronic music composer Pandelis Diamantides, whose music guides the audience through a poetic reflection on human fragility, framed by the image of a pilot preparing for takeoff. In the second part, Bluets, vocal performer Christia Michael sings while Pandelis’ visual intervention on stage evokes a quiet yet deeply emotional introspection.

CONTEMPORARY DANCE

Greek National Opera – Golden Age – 18 & 19/9/2025

The Festival continues its collaboration with the Greek National Opera (GNO), presenting Golden Age by Konstantinos Rigos, artistic director of the GNO Ballet, on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 September.

This is an explosive dance performance — a dizzying party in an opera hall that takes your breath away. Its world premiere took place in Novi Sad at the Belgrade Dance Festival, and was later performed to a packed Stavros Niarchos Hall in Athens, receiving thunderous applause and rave reviews. Now it’s Nicosia’s turn to proudly showcase this multifaceted creator — the man to whom modern Greek dance owes so much — and Golden Age, a fiery manifesto for the future.

In addition, the Festival presents choreographic work by rising Cypriot talents Olga Markari and Chloe Bellou, who, despite their young age, have already made a notable impact abroad.

Olga Markari – The Rite of No Return – 11/11/2025

As part of the #Under30 programme, young choreographer Olga Markari draws inspiration from Igor Stravinsky’s iconic The Rite of Spring, offering a contemporary reflection on the relationship between humanity and nature. The Rite of No Return is a cry for awakening — a call to environmental awareness and collective action.

Chloe Bellou – Moments – 22/11/2025

Inspired by the poetry collection Moments by Kostas Montis, up-and-coming choreographer Chloe Bellou from Paphos creates a meeting point between dance and poetry in a multi-sensory experience. Moments become traces; poetry is transformed into movement, sound, and image. Taking it one step further, the choreographer blends live music, a children’s choir, and visual elements into her dance.

THEATRE

“Another Thebes” – 30/9 & 1/10/2025
The performance by Vaggelis Theodoropoulos and the New World Theatre, a phenomenon of recent theatre seasons — now in its third year in Athens and touring extensively across Greece, with over 100,000 spectators — comes to Cyprus as part of the Nicosia International Festival.
French-Uruguayan playwright Sergio Blanco, one of the most powerful contemporary voices in Spanish-language theatre, delivers a modern study on masculinity, oppression, violence and crime, punishment and discrimination — and, at the same time, on the creative processes of theatre itself. With references to the myth of Oedipus and Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the play stars Thanos Lekkas and the talented and popular actor Dimitris Kapouranis, who won the Dimitris Horn Award for 2022–2023 for this performance.

“The Old Women Who Gather Nettles” – 23/10/2025

This production by the Experimental Stage of the Thessalian Theatre draws on the hidden stories of women in 19th and 20th-century Thessaly, with a focus on social roles and the gendered dimensions of magical-religious practices. At its centre lies the elderly female body and its connection with folk magic, cooking, and ritual practice.
These women, who have spent their lives in the shadow of dominant male power, speak of what they learned from the older generation, what they endured as women, and what they will pass on to those who come next.
What sets this performance apart is that the three female figures are portrayed by three young male bodies wearing masks.

“Waiting for Godot” – 31/10 & 1/11/2025
The Nicosia International Festival presents internationally acclaimed Greek director Theodoros Terzopoulos and the play that defined 20th-century theatre, Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, on Friday 31 October and Saturday 1 November.
This major co-production with Emilia Romagna Teatro is a landmark performance — poised between the monumental and the comic.

Who, ultimately, is the Godot of the title, who never appears? A saviour, perhaps even God himself, as hinted by the English distortion of the name (Godot, from God)? The work poses questions about the effort to communicate and coexist with the Other — the one standing before us — that inscrutable, shadowy realm of repressed desires and fears.

“Michael Kohlhaas” – 15/11/2025

A modern voice on the concept of justice echoes through the classic work of German Romantic author Heinrich von Kleist, Michael Kohlhaas.
This performance, staged by the distinguished Yugoslav Drama Theatre and directed by the multi-award-winning Boris Liješević, will take place on Monday 17 November.
Inspired by true events, the story remains remarkably relevant more than two centuries after it was written. Kleist captures, with intensity and precision, the dead-end faced by a just man against an unjust system.
The moral of the story is that justice should not rest in the hands of one man alone — society at large must have a voice in such matters.

Satiriko Theatre – “The Elephant Man” – 21/11/2025
The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance premieres at the Nicosia International Festival 2025, in collaboration with Satiriko Theatre and Audere Productions.
It tells the true story of John Merrick, a tragically deformed man who lived in Victorian London in the 1880s and became a symbol of human dignity.
This play has rarely been staged in the history of Cypriot theatre. In 2012, it was presented by Theatre ENA, while the first staging was in 1980, when pioneering director and actor Dimitris Potamitis brought it to Cyprus and Greece with the Theatre of Research.

“Trelantonis” – 9/11, 16/11, 23/11 & 30/12/2025
We now live in an era where childhood has vanished. Parents are hopelessly absent, bound to exhausting schedules. Children are no longer allowed to play freely in the streets, instead locked away in rooms with electronic devices, images flickering one after another — meaningless, aimless.
The Nicosia International Festival, together with director Panagiotis Larkou (The Odyssey, THOC 2024/25), collaborates with composer Giorgos Hadjipieris to show young audiences the childhood they deserve to experience.
They have chosen Trelantonis by Penelope Delta, presenting a performance about children who play, make mistakes and learn, get into mischief, become harsh, say sorry, hurt and get hurt, give their love unconditionally, and need love to grow. Children who are fair, alive, and real.

MUSIC

This year’s Festival programme has been further enriched with musical performances, and we are pleased to announce the release of new albums by young Cypriot singer-songwriters Panayiotis Loizou, Savvas Chrysostomou (known as Sais), and Dimitris Mesimeris, as well as a new release by acclaimed composer Stavros Lantsias. Also announced is the new album by Panos Vlachos.

Nicosia Fusion Trio – 21/9/2025
The Nicosia International Festival 2025 introduces the newly formed ensemble Nicosia Fusion Trio. Two Cypriot musicians and one Argentinian — Angelos Angelidis on woodwinds, Marios Nicolaou on percussion, and Sebastián Legovich on guitar — three artists from different backgrounds who blend sounds from East and West, connecting classical with contemporary music and infusing it with Spanish temperament.

“The Songs of Sotiria” – 2/10/2025

The musical performance The Songs of Sotiria, dedicated to the “Grand Dame of Rebetiko” Sotiria Bellou and starring Christina Maxouri in the title role, is now in its fourth season in Greece. Naturally, it could not be absent from the Nicosia International Festival’s programme. The performance has been presented with great success at many festivals in London and Greece.
Christina Maxouri and four outstanding folk musicians set up their stage and invite us on another journey through the life and songs of Sotiria Bellou. These songs tell the entire story of Greek music — works into which composers and lyricists poured their souls, but whose final stamp and identity were defined by Sotiria Bellou herself.

Nena Venetsanou – In Klelia’s Courtyard – 3/10/2025
The Nicosia International Festival 2025, in collaboration with the friends of Klelia Petridou, presents the musical performance In Klelia’s Courtyard, featuring the distinguished singer and composer Nena Venetsanou.
The evening is dedicated to the memory of Klelia Petridou, musician and architect, who passed away in April 2023. Living with multiple sclerosis herself, she dedicated her efforts to improving accessibility for people with disabilities. The concert features songs that marked the musical evenings of Klelia’s courtyard in 1980s Nicosia.

Sais – 22/10/2025
Savvas Chrysostomou, known as Sais, presents a musical performance — a sonic journey weaving together rock, psychedelic, and traditional elements, with influences from stoner and Middle Eastern music. All this is centred around the expressive Cypriot dialect, which Sais consistently uses in his lyrics.

Dimitris Mesimeris – TIK TAK – 25/11/2025

Singer-songwriter Dimitris Mesimeris presents his new album TIK TAK, a musical performance that speaks about time, memory, and the human experience. The stage presentation of the album combines music with spoken word, through short narrative texts by Giorgos Papakonstantinou.

Stavros Lantsias – Waving Hands – 1/12/2025
Distinguished Cypriot pianist and composer Stavros Lantsias presents the premiere of his new album Waving Hands — a deeply personal and emotionally rich work.
Hands that wave, that welcome, that reach out to the world — Waving Hands symbolises first contact with life, innocent expression, and communication beyond words.
He is joined by exceptional musicians: Michalis Kalkanis on double bass, Michalis Kapilidis on drums, internationally acclaimed violinist Nikos Pittas, and technically masterful cellist Robertas Grod.

Panos Vlachos – With Without Luggage – 2/12/2025

Popular actor and singer-songwriter Panos Vlachos packs his luggage with songs we’ve all loved, along with his new album, and comes to the Nicosia International Festival to present the show With Without Luggage.

Panayiotis Loizou – Two Worlds – 12/12/2025

A self-taught singer-songwriter arrives at the Nicosia International Festival. A gym teacher turned musician, who taught himself to play guitar and laouto.
Panayiotis presents his debut solo album Two Worlds — a collection that includes original compositions, reworkings of influential songs, and new, unreleased material, forming a concert experience with depth and layered musical storytelling.

Tribute to Kyriakou Pelagia (pending)
A tribute concert in honour of Kyriakou Pelagia, the “Master” of traditional Cypriot song, curated by her granddaughter, Eirini.
The performance, originally presented by the Municipality of Paralimni on 10 September, will also be staged in Nicosia as part of the Nicosia International Festival 2025, under the terms of the new Cooperation Memorandum we’ve just signed.

PARALLEL PROGRAMME

Nicosia Bicycle Film Festival – 17/10/2025 and 19/10/2025
The Festival presents the first-ever Nicosia Bicycle Film Festival on 19 October. In collaboration with OPU – Organisation for Positive Urbanism, this short film festival comes to Cyprus, having already run for 25 years in New York and travelled to over 100 cities worldwide, drawing more than 1 million viewers.
Throughout the day, three film screenings will take place, all themed around sustainable mobility. The theatre’s outdoor space and the Municipal Garden will be transformed into a lively open-air festival featuring music, bike shops, a children’s bike school, interactive workshops in collaboration with CYENS, as well as food and drink. At the same time, NGOs will showcase their work and engage in dialogue with the public.

VANYA – National Theatre – 22/9/2025

The Festival begins its collaboration with London’s National Theatre Live programme by presenting a stunning performance by Andrew Scott, directed by Sam Yates.
Andrew Scott captivates in this unique one-man adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s classic dark drama Uncle Vanya. All of Chekhov’s characters are brought to life by a single actor in an emotional, intimate confrontation with loss, family, and legacy.

Press and Information Office – Art in the City
As part of the Parallel Programme of the Festival’s sixth edition, the Press and Information Office continues its Art in the City documentary series, dedicated to Cypriot artists. The films are screened in the theatre foyer.

Festival Identity

Organisers: Municipality of Nicosia, Nicosia For Art

Festival Sponsors: EKO Cyprus, Cyprus Public Transport