The Art Explora Festival sails to Cyprus

The world’s first museum boat is set to dock in Limassol

Is 2025 the year new festivals launch in Cyprus? It certainly seems so as yet another event prepares for its inaugural Cyprus edition. The Art Explore Festival is a little different. It is a travelling, globe-trotting festival, on a boat, that will dock in Limassol from October 25 to November 4.

The stop in Cyprus will be the festival’s final destination for 2025, and it is ready to present this one-of-a-kind museum boat to locals and visitors. Created in 2024, Art Explora aims at bringing art and culture closer to as many people as possible.

Crossing seas, the world’s first museum boat offers free artistic and cultural experiences to the public from exhibitions and sound and audio-visual installations, virtual reality experiences, concerts, dance, discussions and workshops. Apart from entertainment on board, selected venues in Limassol will also host events during the festival’s stay.

Having already welcomed over 300,000 visitors during its stops around the Mediterranean — Valletta (Malta), Venice (Italy), Marseille (France), Tangier and Rabat (Morocco), Málaga (Spain), Durrës (Albania), Nice (France), Rijeka (Croatia) and Athens (Greece), the Art Explora Festival is now setting course for Cyprus.

Limassol’s festival programme is curated by the local non-profit exhibition space The Island Club. From October 25 to November 2 visitors will be able to explore a sound experience on board, centred on the richness and diversity of the Mediterranean.

Inside the ship, a virtual reality installation series will be unveiled showing historic Mediterranean cities such as Athens, Alexandria and Venice. A citywide programme will unfold as well, spotlighting Limassol’s cultural scene. Starting from the Molos promenade, the festival will spread into both familiar and overlooked corners of the city, inviting the public to walk, gather and reflect on visible and hidden narratives. Through music, theatre, visual arts, dance and cinema, among others, the Art Explora Festival highlights the diversity of Limassol’s communities while also seeking to engage with the challenges of its shifting present.

In its second week, the festival will collaborate with a local parallel event – Limassol Art Walks which will transform the rest of the city centre into a cultural celebration. Until then, save the date for Art Explora Festival’s opening event on October 25 at the Limassol Marina.

Art Explora Festival

Travelling festival reaches Cyprus. Museum and art activities on the boat and citywide events. October 25-November 4. Limassol. https://www.artexplora.org/festival