On July 11 and 12, Lesvos plans to host the Sappho Lesvos Festival 2025, a modern cultural institution named after the greatest lyric poet of antiquity, highlighting the island’s connection to its literary and cultural heritage. The festival aspires to act as a cultural ambassador for Lesvos and Greece, showcasing the island and the North Aegean as an international meeting point for art, science, and spirit.

With a vision of highlighting local identity through a global lens, the Sappho Lesvos Festival promotes the synthesis between culture and tourism promotion, supporting the belief that culture can be a catalyst for dialogue and development. This year’s event is organized in collaboration with the Archipelagos Society and the Lesvos Philologists’ Union, and includes high-level events with the participation of important figures from the artistic and academic world, such as Stavros Xarchakos, Dimitris Bassis, Iro Saia, Thodoris Economou, Maria Nafpliotou, and Cambridge University professor Tim Whitmarsh.

The festival opens on July 10 with a major concert by Stavros Xarchakos in the courtyard of the Vranas Museum, co-organized with the Archipelagos company. On July 11, a tribute to Fredy Germanos will follow, entitled “When Journalism Meets Literature,” an evening dedicated to sensitive writing and storytelling, with the participation of journalist-authors.

The curtain falls on July 12 with a tribute to lyric poetry, in collaboration with the Lesvos Philologists’ Association. The artistic curator is Thodoris Economou, while Maria Nafpliotou will recite excerpts from lyric poets set to music, accompanied by the composer himself on piano. The presence of internationally recognized Hellenist Tim Whitmarsh adds an academic dimension to the event, reinforcing the intercultural nature of the festival.

The Sappho Lesvos Festival is establishing itself as a new institution that honors the island's past and invests in the creativity of the present, placing Lesvos at the center of the contemporary cultural map.