SYROS REBETIKO FESTIVAL

Rembetiko Festival of Syros island (as called "Syra of Markos Vamvakaris") is a result of the cooperation between Municipality of Syros - Ermoupolis and Cyclades Chamber. Every year, the Syros Rebetiko Festival includes a full program of events on popular urban music (called "Rebetiko"), highlighting the relation between the famous composer Markos Vamvakaris and Syros, as Markos from Syra (or Syros) is a distinctive figure. His songs and his “taximia” (improvisations), are distilled from his insubordination, his passionate life and Syra, the "rock" where he was born.

But what is this that makes everyone from every corner of this world “enchanted” when listening to Markos and his escort-companions in rebetiko songs? It is the “real”, simply human, self-evident of his life and character. And it is also something more. Something that Markos knows and we do not!!!

Last year - for first time - the festival reached abroad, with the participation of artists from Italy and Cyprus, something we expect to broaden in the future, in order to enhance the "international" dimension of the Festival.

Last year's event, took place under the support and aegis of the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports, in recognition of its organizational competence and its contribution to the preservation and promotion of the intangible cultural heritage of Syros.

It is noteworthy that “Rebetiko” was registered in the National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2015 and in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humankind in 2017 on the basis of its urban and folk character, its direct connection to both local language and dance, the development evolution and eventually its establishment as a cultural expression. It is a kind of music with broad public resonance and a strong symbol of identity and ideology for the Greek folk music tradition.

In the file submitted to UNESCO, Syros island is mentioned as one of the cities closely connected to rebetiko, our folk music that we treat as something that is still active and up to today and not as a museum exhibit.