That’s right, for one more summer, the courtyard of the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation in downtown Nicosia will welcome music, dance, theatre and poetry performances, as well as film screenings as the annual Faneromeni25 Arts Festival returns. All summer long, cultural evenings will bring creativity and entertainment to the heart of the old town, and all for free!

From June 26 to September 11, audiences of all ages will enjoy contemporary Cypriot productions in conjunction with the exhibition Cyprus Insula, focusing on a contemporary approach and a renewed look at the concept of ‘Cypriotism’.

Opening the festival is a theatre and dance performance revolving around a female figure Cyprus knows well. Aphrodite(s), by the Yasemin Collective, is a performance about the female experience, identity and Cypriot multiplicity, directed and artistically curated by Natalia Panagiotou. A cast of Cypriot women artists from different artistic fields will present an evening of music, poetry, theatre and dance to reimagine what the image of Aphrodite means. Not as a goddess or a myth, as she it typically perceived but as a symbol.

As July arrives, the If it’s evil, let it be exiled: spells and baskanies performance on July 3 will explore and highlight the phenomenon of the evil eye in Cypriot culture.

The event is an original, multidimensional artistic performance about these rituals and beliefs as they were traditionally practised, but also as they have evolved and survived in contemporary society. Cypriot traditional music will be looped, aligning with the repetition of the ceremonies as well as live performances and songs.

In a similar vein, music and dance performance Katharsis will be next on July 17, inspired by the relationship between history and myth. Narration, drums, electronics, dance, myth, the Mediterranean and the deity Ogmios come together for a unique evening in the courtyard.

On July 31, choreographer/dancer Zoe Eleftheriou and DJ/music composer Alejjo, will fill the space with sounds and movement that inspire, heal and unite in a unique piece titled LOUKOUMILOUMIKOUMIKOUMI. This performance is an ode to both tradition and rebellion in the present and future. As such, it will present new pieces that bridge the two.

Throughout July and August, the courtyard will also host summer film screenings, organised in collaboration with The Friends of Cinema Society. A touch of spice will be screened on July 10 with English subtitles, Les blagues de TOTO on July 24, dubbed in Greek for young audiences, West Side Story – the Musical on August 7 and TOTO 2 – School trip on August 28, also in Greek.

Next comes theatre. On September 4, the play Cycles, in megahertz, written specifically for Faneromeni25 Arts Festival in the Greek-Cypriot dialect by Euripides Dikaios will be presented.

The performance will be a poetic journey with a humorous hue of a surreal intellect in a turbulent historical moment, navigating the width and breadth spectrum of the local vernacular. It is inspired by the dialect’s fundamental friction with the natural environment, the historical record and the scientific wisdom trickling through time in Cypriot literature, with a special exploration of the publications of the Cultural Foundation.

The festival will conclude with Monsieur Doumani on September 11 featuring their Pissourin music album which deals with the night in its various manifestations, through an existential/philosophical prism. So, get ready for cultural nights in the capital city.

Faneromeni25 Arts Festival

Annual dance, music, theatre, poetry and song performances. June 26-September 11. Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, Nicosia. 8pm. Free entrance