This weekend the Municipality of Chania’s Festival of Alternative Tourism is running for the third consecutive year, from Friday 16th May to Sunday 18th May. Following the success of last year’s event, the Festival of Alternative Tourism and Experiences, under the banner “260Kmemories Festival”, will be taking place in Katechaki Square behind the Mikis Theodorakis Theatre, from 18:00 to 23:00 each evening.

The announcement was made at a press conference held at the Chania City Hall on 12th May by the mayor of Chania Panagiotis Simandirakis, deputy mayor for Tourism Nektarios Psaroudakis, General Director of the Orthodox Academy of Crete Dr Konstantinos Zorbas, and wine adviser and sommelier Andreas Rovithis.

Taking part in the Festival will be professionals, organisations and associations active in Alternative Tourism and Experience Tourism from all over Crete. There will be exhibitors from all the four Nomos of the island, while side activities will include an icon-painting workshop run by the Orthodox Academy, the presentation of three volumes of photographic material on devotional tourism by the Municipality of Kandanos-Selino, the presentation of a website on religious routes by the Municipality of Platanias, stargazing with the Crete Astronomy Friends Club, preparing traditional Sfakian pies, a domestic wine competition, and others.

The mayor of Chania said he derived considerable satisfaction from the fact that “important initiatives are becoming established year on year, so as to constitute stable landmarks and institutions for activity in the city. A new institution is the Festival of Alternative Tourism, which on the initiative of the deputy mayor for Tourism Nektarios Psaroudakis constitutes an annual meeting point for professionals involved in the sector.”

Finally, Mr Simandirakis noted that this year the festival has as its theme religious tourism, and he thanked the General Director of the Orthodox Academy Dr Kostas Zorbas and all those who were contributing to the establishment of the sector. “This excellent collaboration between us highlights a very important aspect of themed tourism,” the mayor concluded, “promoting the wealth of resources which our locality possesses in relation to religious tourism.”

In his turn the deputy mayor for Tourism Nektarios Psaroudakis said that the exhibits and the side activities will provide visitors with a picture of the kinds of alternative tourism which they can enjoy here in Chania, and more generally in Crete. “More than 50 exhibitors are participating in the Festival this year, among them the Region of Crete and the Municipalities of Platanias, Kandanos-Selino, Malevizi and Lasithi Plateau. Joining us for the icon painting is the Orthodox Academy of Crete, while among the activities and the stalls of the exhibitors, visitors can easily discover how alternative Crete is,” Mr Psaroudakis said.

The General Director of the Orthodox Academy of Crete, Dr Konstantinos Zorbas, congratulated the Municipality of Chania on organising the event and stressed that modern religious tourism is existential and not developmental. “Alternative tourism cannot be mass tourism and cannot become a mass phenomenon, as it will lose its orientation. Most often the chapels, which are always open, speak on their own to the spirit of the people who visit them, and history opens its doors through the thousands of gazes of the saints, who are there either as ancient frescoes or as thousands of icons,” Dr Zorbas said.

The wine adviser, sommelier Andreas Rovithis, made special reference to the traditional-style domestic wine competition which will take place on Saturday 17th May at 19:00. “The public will have the opportunity to sample and score all the wines which have taken part in the competition, of which there are 15 plus one from Naxos. Their assessments will be added to those of the critics, and the winners will be given citations and symbolic gifts. We hope that this competition will become an institution for Chania,” Mr Rovithis concluded.

The programme in detail

Friday 16/05/25
18:00 Opening of the 3rd 260Kmemories Festival
18:00-18:30 Words of welcome – Speeches – Presentation of the 260Kmemories Festival.
18:30-23:00 Operation of the Exhibition of Alternative Tourism and 260Km Experiences.
19:00-20:30 Icon-painting workshop by the Orthodox Academy of Crete:
“Sketching the face and how an icon is illuminated with colours.”
20:30-22:30 Stargazing with the Crete Astronomy Friends Club
23:00 End of the 1st day of the 260Kmemories Festival.

Saturday 17/05/25
18:00-23:00 Operation of the Exhibition of Alternative Tourism and 260Km Experiences.
19:00 -20:30 Domestic Wine Competition
20:00 Presentation of the three volumes of photographic material of the Municipality of Kandanos-Selino
20:30-22:30 Stargazing with the Crete Astronomy Friends Club
23:00 End of the 2nd day of the 260Kmemories Festival.

Sunday 18/05/25
18:00-22:30 Operation of the Exhibition of Alternative Tourism and 260Km Experiences.
19:00-20:30 Preparation of Traditional Sfakian Pies – Eleni Kotsaki
20:00 Religious routes in the Municipality of Platanias, presentation of website by the Orthodox Academy of Crete
20:30-21:30 Stefanos Melodon Byzantine Choir
20:30-22:30 Stargazing with the Crete Astronomy Friends Club
23:00 End of the 3rd 260Kmemories Festival.
(Municipal press release, 12/05/25)