The festival news from summer Greece is exceptionally rich and quite enviable. Many concerts of all kinds, films, theater – cultural life is at its peak, and wherever you go, there will be something nearby to attend, from major performances to amateur-level concerts that might, however, reveal a new, emerging talent.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed it too, but Athens, where I live and about which I can express an opinion, has a large number of cultural events daily throughout the year. You can choose from chamber music, vocal concerts, orchestras, and so much more. A true bouquet of events waiting to be discovered. The same happens in many recreational and holiday spots during the summers. But what happens there in the winters? I had such a discussion last Saturday with an excellent mayor involved in major summer festivals. He told me it’s like a switch is flipped, and everything shuts down. So, what kind of footprint does summer cultural activity leave? Is it only tourists who attend? That seems impossible to me. Certainly, in summer, the population of a place multiplies, making it easier to have an available audience for performances. But some of those who want to attend something come to Athens!

I believe it’s a significant challenge for all medium-sized or even smaller cities to establish a steady flow of cultural activity during the winter as well. It seems almost crucial for an organization to manage a series of events to satisfy the, admittedly smaller but loyal, audience that would like to hear a piano recital, for example. At the same time, such events highlight local talents. Who’s to say that the next Martha Argerich isn’t living in Argos and is twelve years old? Who’s to say that the next Kavakos isn’t living in Kavala, learning the violin, and is eleven years old? These talents need to be channeled and showcased, and that will only happen if they are exposed to the public and play plenty of music. And then we will see if there are talents, what the teachers are doing, and how these talents are developing. But we must not forget another parameter: there are people who want to hear live music. It’s not necessary for them to constantly listen to Vengerov play. They will listen to others, and eventually, local heroes will emerge, whom they will soon see gracing the main stage of the theater that invited them. And thus, naturally, infrastructure will be upgraded, and there will be new investments at the material and technical level, once we start using what we already have in a sustainable way.