Ayia Napa International Festival

The Ayia Napa International Festival is held in the resort town of Ayia Napa in the last week of September, timed to coincide with World Tourism Day. It was first staged in September 1985 and has run annually since, centred on Seferis Square and the grounds around the historic medieval monastery in the town centre.

The programme mixes concerts and theatrical performances with Cypriot and visiting folk dance groups. Alongside the stage events, the festival hosts craft demonstrations and workshops, including wood carving, silversmithing and the making of traditional products such as halloumi cheese, the grape sweet palouzes and the spirit zivania. Exhibitions of the island's flowers, butterflies and shells round out the cultural side. The aim is to show the historical, agricultural and folk traditions of Ayia Napa and of Cyprus more widely, rather than to mirror the resort's better-known nightlife.

Around the festival

The setting in the heart of the resort makes it easy to combine with the coast. The town's famous sands at Nissi Beach are a short distance away, and the headland of Cape Greco sits between Ayia Napa and the resort of Protaras with its Fig Tree Bay. The monastery courtyard at the festival's centre is a calm contrast to the busy resort strip.

• The festival is held in the last week of September each year.
• Entry to the public performances and exhibitions is free.
• Seferis Square sits in the town centre, walkable from most resort hotels.

Evenings are the liveliest time, when the concerts and dance shows run on the main square. See our Ayia Napa guide for more of the resort.