Travelling Art Explora Festival to bring unique programme to Limassol

After welcoming over 300,000 visitors across the Mediterranean, the Art Explora Festival will dock for the very first time in Limassol (Cyprus), from 25 October to 4 November 2025, with its museum-boat moored at Limassol Marina until 2 November, and events spreading throughout the city centre until 4 November. 

Free and open to everyone, the Art Explora Festival is a travelling cultural festival that sails across seas and oceans aboard the world’s first museum-boat. It offers innovative artistic and cultural experiences through immersive visual, sound, and virtual reality installations, as well as exhibitions, concerts, dance performances, workshops, talks, and screenings, presented both on board and throughout the host city.

In Limassol, the programme is curated by The Island Club, a non-profit exhibition space founded in 2017 by artist Christodoulos Panayiotou and directed since 2019 by musician and curator Androula Kafa, whose mission is to strengthen and promote local artistic creation while building bridges with international cultural institutions.

Events will unfold across the city, from the Limassol Marina, Old Port Square and Molos to the Rialto Theatre, the Limassol Municipal Arts Centre – Apothikes Papadaki, the Archaeological Museum, and through the streets of the historic centre in collaboration with Limassol Art Walks.

Art Explora Festival Programme in Limassol (25 Oct – 4 Nov, 2025)

Immersive experiences on board the museum boat (until 2 November)

On the deck: A Mediterranean Soundscape, an immersive audio journey designed by IRCAM and Ircam Amplify (Centre Pompidou, Paris), offering a sensorial exploration of the richness and diversity of the Mediterranean.

Inside the museum-boat: Mediterranean Wonders, a virtual reality series developed with Ubisoft, allowing visitors to travel through time and space to discover Athens, Alexandria, and Venice at the height of their splendour.

Programme highlights in the city until 4 November

In Limassol, the Art Explora Festival will unfold across the city, from Molos to the historic centre, showcasing its vibrant cultural scene through music, theatre, visual arts, dance and cinema, while reflecting both its diversity and contemporary challenges. 

Concerts

• Opening concert with the Limassol Philharmonic Orchestra, Michalis Terlikkas & Mousa Music Group, Kemal Deveci and Aziz Kahraman, Krista Papista with Jan Verwoert and Kanella Petropoulou (premiere of the album EURO DIVAS), Stelios Petrakis & ensemble (Christina Polycarpou, Simon Mercouris, Stelios Papamichael), (25 Oct, Old Port Square)
• Live concert with Savina Yannatou with Primavera en Salonico and Lamia Bedioui, with an opening act by Spivak (26 Oct, Old Port Square)
• A live concert of hip-hop, rock, and electronic music at the EKA Group garage, featuring underground talent from Limassol. With Something Messy, MUSHA, Mava + ΚαππαΧι + Nocs, presented as part of The Right to Home: Diaries of Limassol’s Gentrification (1 Nov)
• Your Face Sounds Familiar, Filipino community music event (2 Nov)

DJ sets

• Closing DJ sets after the opening concert with DJ Koulla P. Katsikoronou and dj harama (25 Oct, Old Port Square)
• Afterparty at Tapper Bar, after the live concert of The Right to Home: Diaries of Limassol’s Gentrification (1 Nov)

Performances

• 1953: A 16-hour durational performance at Rialto Theatre. Concept / Direction: Christodoulos Panayiotou. With (amongst many others): Valentino Joseph, Elena Topalidou, Stela Phyrogeni, Androula Kafa, Christina Vantzou, Limassol Philharmonic Orchestra, Amalgamation Choir, Alexandros Pissourios, Kristia Michael
• Evita Ioannou’s performance based on Diana Georgiou’s novel Other Reflexes (27 Oct)

Screenings & Cinema

• Cinemare daily open-air screenings on the seafront promenade (27 Oct – 1 Nov)
• In the Shadow of the Towers, a screening programme with new works by Phivos Philitas, Adonis Archontides, and Androula Kafa as part of The Right to Home: Diaries of Limassol’s Gentrification (30 Oct)
• Screening of Secret, a film by Demetris Kolokotronis and Stelios Ilchuk at the Archaeological Museum of Limassol (4 Nov)

Walks & Site-specific Works

• Yiannis Papadakis & Ioanna Paraskevopoulou’s guided walk through Ayios Nicolaos cemetery (1 & 2 Nov)
• The Cinema: a sound walk and an interdisciplinary event by the Center of Performing Arts MITOS, curated by Elena Agathokleous (28 Oct)
• Sevina Floridou’s guided walk through Limassol’s historic Fytidou orchard will introduce visitors to this long-abandoned garden of over 50 palms, now being reopened to the public. (26 Oct, Ocean Weekend)

Special Programmes & Collaborations

• The multilayered program Right to Home: Diaries of Limassol’s Gentrification, includes a group exhibition, a writing workshop, a poetry night, a guided tour, screenings, an open discussion, a concert, and a party. (30 Oct–2 Nov)
• Collaboration with Limassol Art Walks, turning the historic centre into an open-air gallery (31 Oct–2 Nov)
• Archaeological Museum talk on human–animal relations (4 Nov)

Ocean Weekend – Sunday, 26 October

Part of the festival’s Ocean Weekend series, aligned with the UN Decade of Ocean Science, Limassol will host a dedicated day of events on 26 October: 

• A guided walk on Ottoman water heritage by Sevina Floridou
• A performance by acclaimed Greek vocalist Savina Yannatou together with Primavera en Salonico and Lamia Bedioui

Collaboration with Limassol Art Walks – 31 Oct to 2 Nov, 2025

The second weekend of the festival will coincide with Limassol Art Walks, featuring exhibitions, performances, residencies, and artist activations in synergy with the festival. Highlights include the Residency Open Studios at MeMeraki, The Right to Home programme at Synergeio and the EKA Group Parking, and an exhibition of Valentino Joseph at Pylon Art & Culture.  

Discover the full programme online: www.artexplora.org/festival/ville/limassol

Practical information – Art Explora Festival – Limassol

• Dates: 25 October – 4 November 2025 (museum-boat visits until 2 November)
• Locations: Limassol Marina (museum-boat), Old Port Square and Molos, Rialto Theatre, Limassol Municipal Arts Centre Apothikes Papadaki, Old Vinegar Factory, Archeological Museum of Limassol, Fytideio, Cinema, EKA Group parking and Synergeio Performing Arts Centre, Tapper Bar, MeMeraki Artist Residency
• Opening hours: 10am-9pm (last entry 7.45pm)
• Free entry for everyone.
• Some activities (museum-boat visits, workshops) require free online registration: www.artexplora.org/en/festival/city/limassol
• Official opening: Saturday, 25 October, Limassol Marina

From 3pm to 5pm, Boat’s Inauguration – Limassol Marina

• 3pm – Welcome & guided tour
• 3.30pm – Opening to the public
• 4pm – Official speeches
• 4.30–5pm – Limassol Philarmonic Orchestra

From 5pm to 12am, Panegyri – Old Port Square

• 5–6pm – Concert: Kemal Deveci et Aziz Kahraman
• 6pm –7pm – Concert: Stelios Petrakis and ensemble (Christina Polycarpou, Simon Mercouris, Stelios Papamichael)
• 7–8pm – Concert: Michalis Terlikkas and Mousa Music Group (Costas Karpasitis, Yiannis Souroullas, Nikos Souroullas)
• 8–9pm – DJ set: DJ Koulla P. Katsikoronou
• 9–10pm – Performance: Krista Papista with Jan Verwoert and Kanella Petropoullou
• 10pm–12am – DJ set: DJ Harama

Full programme: www.artexplora.org/en/festival/city/limassol
Instagram : @artexplorafestival

About Art Explora Festival

The Art Explora Festival is a touring festival that travels across seas and oceans on its museum boat, offering free access to innovative artistic and cultural experiences.

The Festival is hosted aboard the world’s very first museum boat, quayside in exhibition pavilions, and in various locations within its host cities, with a programme that combines exhibitions, virtual reality, performances, conventions, film screenings, concerts and more.

From Spring 2024 until Autumn 2027, the museum boat will travel to 15 countries in the Mediterranean; the cradle of great civilisations and a melting pot of many cultures. It will bring together artists, curators and cultural, educational and community organisations to collectively imagine a new vision of the Mediterranean. www.artexplora.org/festival | @artexplorafestival

About Art Explora

Art Explora is an international organisation that inspires new encounters between arts and audiences – locally, nationally and internationally. Its imaginative contemporary approach encourages new forms of access participation and engagement with arts and culture, pushing boundaries with digital technology and mobile programmes. It works in partnership with artists, cultural organisations and communities, exploring all art forms and creating transformative cultural experiences for everyone. Art Explora is a charitable organisation founded in 2019 by philanthropist and entrepreneur Frédéric Jousset, with offices in France and the UK, bringing together many partners and over 2,000 volunteers. artexplora.org | @art.explora

About The Island Club

The Island Club is a non-profit exhibition space founded in 2017 by artist Christodoulos Panayiotou and directed by Androula Kafa since 2019. It aims to support and promote local artistic production, while also developing networks with international cultural institutions. The space hosts exhibitions, film screenings, performances, readings, and book presentations by artists from Cyprus and abroad. the-island-club.com/
@theislandclubcy

About Accor

As one of the Art Explora Festival’s main partners, the Accor Group played a key role in its inaugural success. This partnership, formalised in Marseille, reflects Accor’s commitment to sharing the arts with as many people as possible. Sensitive to the challenges faced by the Art Explora Foundation, Accor, together with its employees, its ALL – Accor Live Limitless loyalty programme and its hotels, is ready and waiting to support the festival in every country along the way. The partnership draws on the Accor Group’s ALL -Accor Live Limitless reservation platform and loyalty programme to offer exclusive experiences for its members at the festival.

Accor, Europe’s leading hotel operator, is committed to supporting innovative and ambitious initiatives that reflect our vision of positive hospitality, focused on local communities. We are proud to support the Art Explora Festival, the first museum boat offering access to art to a wide audience. At each of its stops in the Mediterranean, our hotels and our Heartists® employees will be mobilised, with their hearts and their artist souls, to promote this commitment locally and help build the hospitality of tomorrow.