Paxos News

Paxos has been chosen as one of the Villages of Culture for 2004. This is quite an honour for the island and allows a link up with some very interesting villages elsewhere in Europe, and a wonderful selection of events for Paxiots and tourists to enjoy during the spring, summer and autumn.

The programme for The Village of Culture started in the Danish village of Tommerup in 1996. Since since then it has grown to become a very important stage for small villages - Europe does not only consist of large cities, as the publicity for the Village of Culture rightly points out.

The Village of Culture came of age in 1999 when eleven villages signed a charter declaring that life in small villages was of great importance for the future welfare of Europe. This charter was presented to the EC in Brussels the following year and has since been given official approval by the European Parliament.
The purpose of this pan-European movement is to show that small villages have their own cultural identity and that working together they can help each others on issues such as agricultural development, tourism, transport, communication, education and the economy in general.

There were eleven founder village members, among whom were Paxos and Aldeburgh in England. In September last year representatives from Paxos travelled to Aldeburgh and spent a week there representing Paxiot culture with our musicians, choir and dancers entertaining. This year, 2004, all the Villages represented are coming here to Paxos to entertain.

The Mayor of Paxos had this to say, 'This island, which this year will host the cultures of all the others, shows a will to live, and a concern for the need to coexist with friends, fellow villagers of Europe, who have the same sensitivities, the same anxieties, the same speculations on issues and similar dreams. Through our smallness, we are trying to survive, maintaining our identity. This is our motto and we are trying to make it known to everyone.'

The programme of events this year begins with the Opening Mayors’ meeting on April 16th 2004 (just after our Greek Easter). The first villages to come to the island and perform are the villages of Wijk Aan Zee in Holland and Mellionnec in France, who are here from May 21st to 24th. The following month, from 4th – 7th June, the villages of Bystre in the Czech Republic and Pergine Valdarno in Italy will be on the island and from 18th - 21st June the villages of Aldeburgh (England) and Palkonya in Hungary will entertain. From 10th – 20th July there is a Youth Camp on the island, after which there is a break until September, when there are two weeks of events. From 10th to 13th the villages of Stroebeck in Germany and Leykara in Cyprus are here, then from 24th to 27th with the villages of Porrua in Spain and Kilinginomme in Estonia. The last villages to come are Tommerup (Denmark) and Kirchheim (Austria) from the 8th October, and the programme ends with various events, including the final Mayors’ meeting, held between 5th and 8th November.

So there is a full programme and the different cultures represented should provide a very interesting year here on Paxos. We're all looking forward to it very much. I hope you may be able to see some of these events too and don't forget this year we have two Music Festivals - see the Music Festival link.