On Wednesday 2nd July, what was billed by Platanias as the Municipality’s “First Reunion of Traditional Music and Dance “, was held in Kolymbari on the broad esplanade created by the filling in of the old fishing harbour during the recent works of transformation.

The amenity has so far as we know seen little use since its creation, apart from hosting a tribute concert to Mikis Theodorakis in August last year. A large open-air chess board has been created with tiles in one corner, but we have yet to see any use beng made of it, and the main beneficiaries have been the Argentina and Diktina fish restaurants, which have been able to spread their tables outside, while a growing number of marine-related businesses, including Royal Octopus Diving and Notos Mare boat hire have found it useful to establish their offices with direct access to the quayside. It is therefore to be hoped that as the harbour gains in popularity, more uses will be found for the open space.

In a Facebook post, the Municipality of Platanias described last week’s event as “a gathering devoted to our rich and vibrant cultural heritage”, continuing: “A substantial crowd inundated the venue, enjoying an impressive programme, with traditional dances of Greece included in the performances of local dance groups. The audience travelled in music and dance through authentic costumes, rhythms and songs which demonstrate the enduring richness of our popular culture.”

The participants (in alphabetical order) were:
— The “Arodamos” music and dance group of the St Polykarp Brotherhood of Asia Minor Greeks of the Nomos of Chania.
— The “Viglatores” Traditional Association of Alikianos.
— The Epirus Association of the Nomos of Chania.
— The Chania folk group “Giannis Agiasmenakis”.
— The Association of Macedonian-Thracians of the Nomos of Chania.
— The “Oi Pelasgoi” athletic dance association of Kolymbari.
The event was accompanied by the traditional Cretan music group of Spyros Panagiotakis (lute), Giorgos Konstantoudakis (lute) and Giannis Maragakis (lyra).

Addressing those present at the event, the mayor of Platanias Giannis Malandrakis said “The First Traditional Music and Dance Reunion has been a major celebration of tradition and culture. Through such initiatives we demonstrate our cultural identity, reinforce the bonds between communities and give young people the opportunity to come into contact with our roots. The public participation has been the greatest confirmation that such activities have a value and a future in our locality…”

Platanias’ deputy mayor for culture Polychronis Simandirakis emphasised that “… today we have encountered the cultural identity of Crete, Epirus, Asia Minor and Macedonia-Thrace through the splendid traditional dances presented by the traditional dance groups. We warmly thank the Parish of Agia Marina in Kolymbari, the Kolymbari Women’s Association, our colleagues and the employees of the municipal unit of Kolymbari for their cooperation and their contribution to the event’s success….”

Also present at the event were the deputy mayors Christos Archontakis, Manolis Malakonakis, Georgios Kalaitzakis, Chrysoula Maragoudaki and the Councillor responsible for civil protection Artemis Koutsavtakis, as well as representatives of local associations and large numbers of the public. The event concluded with the distribution of commemorative certificates to all the participating groups in recognition of their contribution to the occasion’s success.
(Facebook/Municipality of Platanias)

Greece’s cultural groups: a means of preserving local identity
Modern Greece’s short history has been marked by many upheavals which have resulted in the displacement of large numbers of people from their homelands to other parts of the country or to other parts of the globe, either by reason of economic necessity, political pressure or even war. Having left their homes, Greeks wherever they are have sought to retain their cultural identities by forming local groups which enable participants to maintain ties with each other and with their homeland. The local teams representing different regions at the dance event demonstrate this,

Cretans in particular have created vigorous local communities wherever they have moved to. As their umbrella organisation, the World Council of Cretans states on its website:
“The World Council of Cretans, founded in 2003, aims to defend and preserve the history and cultural traditions of Crete and Greece, passing them on to younger generations and the communities where Cretans live and work worldwide. Its members include the Pancretan Association of America, the Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand, the Pancretan Federation of Europe, the Pancretan Union of Athens, the Pancretan Brotherhood of Macedonia, the Cretan Brotherhood of Piraeus ‘Omonoia’, and the Pancretan Union of South Africa.”

The exit from Asia Minor
The most traumatic event in Greece’s modern history – the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923 – resulted in the forcible removal of some 1.2 million Orthodox Greeks from their homes, mainly in Asia Minor, and the movement of 350-400,000 Muslims from Greece to Turkey. The event remains branded on the memory of Greeks, who still refer to it as the “Asia Minor disaster”, and regularly commemorate its major incidents.

The St Polykarp Brotherhood of Asia Minor Greeks of the Nomos of Chania is but one of many groupings of those whose forebears were among the displaced and who seek to keep alive their cultural identity. A few days before the event in Kolymbari, they took part in a pan-Hellenic meeting of Asia Minor Associations, in Heraklion on 28th June.

At that event, their representative Stella Gozani Haritaki told Haniotika Nea: “The institution of the Panhellenic Reunion of Asia Minor Associations of the Federation of Refugee Bodies of Greece (OPSE) constitutes an important cultural event which is organised by the OPSE, the oldest second-level organisation of refugee bodies in Greece, which aims to keep alive the memory, the history and the cultural heritage of the Asia Minor refugees.

“The OPSE, which was founded in 1984, represents bodies from all over Greece with their roots in Asia Minor, Pontus, Constantinople, Imbros and Tenedos and Eastern Thrace. The Reunion is an annual festival which brings together those with their origin in Asia Minor from different regions, promoting tradition, brotherhood and solidarity through events with traditional dances, music, speeches, exhibitions of photographs and historical material,” she said. “The Panhellenic Reunions have been hosted in different regions of Greece, chiefly in towns with a strong refugee component: Lamia, Fthiotida (2017), Katerini, Pieria (2018), Kalamaria, Thessaloniki (2022), Nea Artaki, Evia (2023), Agrinio, Aitolokarnania (2024) and Heraklion in Crete (28th June 2025).”
(Haniotika Nea, 04/07/25)