39ο Διεθνές Φεστιβάλ Κιθάρας Αθηνών

The 39th Athens International Guitar Festival runs 16-19 April 2026 at the Athens Conservatoire in Kolonaki, bringing four days of classical, flamenco, and gypsy jazz guitar to a Bauhaus landmark designed by Ioannis Despotopoulos. You walk through a 160-metre facade into halls where the acoustics were shaped for unamplified strings — and for thirty-nine years, the festival founded by Kostas Kotsiolidis has filled them.

The lineup spans continents and traditions. Opening night pairs two Italian duets: Aniello and Gennaro Desiderio on guitar and violin, Giampaolo Bandini and Cesare Chiacchiaretta on guitar and bandoneon. Friday brings solo recitals by Michalis Sourvinos and Vojin Kocic. Saturday belongs to flamenco and gypsy jazz — Grisha Goryachev followed by the Rosenberg Trio, with Stochelo and Mozes Rosenberg joined by Matheus Nikolaiewsky. The festival closes Sunday with three afternoon recitals and an evening finale: Project Rodrigo, performing three Joaquin Rodrigo concertos with soloists and the Underground Youth Orchestra conducted by Costas Eliades.

The setting is the Conservatoire's two concert halls — the Aris Garoufalis Hall for intimate recitals, the larger I. Despotopoulos Hall for ensemble evenings. The vibe runs closer to attentive listening than festival energy. The sound is acoustic, unamplified, shaped by the rooms themselves. The door is open to anyone with a ticket.

You will share these halls with classical guitar devotees who track performers across European festival circuits, conservatory students taking notes, and the particular species of listener who closes their eyes when a flamenco passage accelerates.

If you want amplified music and a standing crowd, this is not the room. But if you want to hear what a guitar can do when nothing stands between the instrument and the architecture, the Conservatoire was built for this conversation.

The Athens Conservatoire is on Rigillis and Vasileos Georgiou, a ten-minute walk from Evangelismos metro. Tickets EUR 10-30 through Ticketmaster. Individual concerts carry separate pricing — the opening night on 16 April at 19:30 is EUR 25.

Thirty-nine years. The same building. The guitar keeps finding new things to say in it.