The Philippi Festival
The Philippi Festival is an annual performing-arts festival staged in the ancient theatre of Philippi — a city founded by Philip II in 356 BC, with its archaeological site inscribed by UNESCO in 2016. Its 69th edition runs from 8 July to 6 September 2026 under the theme Metamorphosis, with the Greek National Opera returning to Philippi after twenty-five years.
The Philippi Festival is an annual performing-arts festival staged in the ancient theatre of Philippi, near Kavala, Greece, organised by DIPETHE Kavala, the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kavala. The theatre’s first phase was raised under Philip II in the fourth century BC; it returned to performance in 1957 after twenty-four centuries of silence. The archaeological site of Philippi was inscribed by UNESCO in 2016. The 69th edition runs from 8 July to 6 September 2026 under artistic director Eva Oikonomou-Vamvaka, with the theme Metamorphosis.
The programme opens on 8 July with the Camerata Junior — the youth orchestra of the Friends of Music — joined by Simon Zhu, winner of the 2023 Paganini International Competition, performing Paganini’s First Violin Concerto and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. On 15 July, the Greek National Opera returns to Philippi after twenty-five years with Phaethon, a contemporary reading of Lully’s opera to Quinault’s libretto, co-produced with the festival.
Five original productions move beyond the spoken stage for the first time, incorporating opera, shadow theatre and visual installation. The tenth Ancient Drama Workshop runs from 24 August to 3 September, with three directors guiding eighteen young performers. Site-specific stagings extend the programme into Kavala itself.