Generations: Great Music / Family Fun

The Generations Festival returns to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) on the weekend of May 28 and 29. Athens rediscovers itself after two extraordinary years, and the music festival that unites different generations could not be missing from this big moment, five years after its successful debut in 2017.

From 11.00 in the morning until late in the evening, the SNFCC will be bustling with activity, making use of all its spaces, from the Great Lawn and the Canal to the Playgrounds and the Visitors Center, and providing parents and children with a wide variety of choices, wiping out the dividing lines between who is going to hula-hoop, who will try out juggling tricks, who will dance to the beats of the “Portishead DJ” Andy Smith, and who will be going home with a colorful look after a face-painting session.

Scooter rides and bicycles workshops; soap bubbles and kayaking; collective painting and a book club meeting; scavenger hunts and large-scale board games; water fights and many more activities await guests who wish to relish carefree moments of fun and laughs.

All the while encouraging, instead of excluding, children and adults to communicate, collaborate and play together. And all of this set against an exciting musical backdrop, courtesy of some of the best DJs of Athens and distinguished guests from abroad.

Generations, which is carried out thanks to an exclusive grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), offers everything you need to spend an unforgettable “weekend at the park”. And it also features a photo booth so you can take its memory with you, until the next time!

DJs at Stavros Niarchos Park

“What's your favorite music?” If you have children who ask you this, and you have no idea where to even begin answering the question, then Generations is a very good starting point.

You can hear (and, why not, even dance) with them to the tunes of Andy Smith, the British DJ who toured with the legendary Portishead, boasting a very special track record as a selector over the past 30 years. Or of the other headliner DJ of Generations, Dan Donovan, who has been omnipresent in the British musical trends since the ’80s. Or of Queen Bee, a legendary figure of the Bristol music scene for the past 30 years. But also of some prominent DJs of the Greek freestyle music scene, ranging from hip hop and dub/reggae to breaks and dance electronica, such as Blend Mishkin, Anna Mystic, Junior SP., Palov, Kill Emil, BNC, Dimitris Lilis, and George Garavellos.

At Generations, the DJ sets start at 11:00 a.m. and peak with the appearance of the headliners at around sundown. A rhythmic line-up ideally poised to introduce the young to adult music, and to prompt families to co-exist, perhaps for the first time, on the dancefloor, on the lawn of their favorite Park.

Andy Smith

Saturday, May 28, 20:00–22:00, Great Lawn

Andy Smith was born and raised in the small town of Portishead, a few miles west of Bristol. Almost inevitably, he bonded with the legendary Portishead, made up of musicians of around the same age as himself, a band that played a leading role in the trip hop explosion of the ’90s. Smith was their tour DJ who would warm up the audience before their live performances; the one who chose the music for their official fan club, unfolding their varied influences on the sets. But Smith also stands for something much bigger than the honorific “Portishead DJ”.

Taking the baton from late ’80s audio alchemists like Coldcut, Andy Smith continued along this journey with no sound limitations and restrictions. In 1998, he released the mix album The Document, which eventually sold more than 100,000 copies, establishing him on both sides of the Atlantic as a milestone DJ of the freestyle music scene. Historic labels, such as Trojan, tasked him with curating their collections; twice he was included in the “World's 20 Best DJs”; and for nearly three decades he has been touring the globe with his favorite 7-inch vinyls, harmoniously mixing soul music, hip hop, dub, disco, soundtracks, and ’60s rock jams.

Athens has danced several times to his music—besides, he was the Generations 2017 headliner DJ—and is now waiting for him once again, with great anticipation and comfortable dance shoes on.

Dan Donovan

Sunday, May 29, 19:00–21:00, Great Lawn

Dan Donovan seems to have always been the right person, in the right place, at the right time. Born in West London in the ’60s, he learned piano and trombone in his neighborhood, Notting Hill, and took advantage of the unlimited potential created by the post-punk era to become part of London's music scene. He took over the keyboards in the original composition of Big Audio Dynamite, the band created by Mick Jones when he broke up from The Clash. He did a stint in the early ’90s with the Sisters of Mercy, and was a founding member of the Dreadzone who combined dub with dance music.

At the same time, he developed his talent for photography (inherited from his father, Terence Daniel Donovan, who was a famous photographer), evolved into a sought-after DJ and even more sought-after remixer, lending his dub strokes to classical tracks such as Adamski’s “Killer” or big names such as Grace Jones.

There are two things of which we are certain regarding his appearance at Generations: we will be dancing non-stop, and we will have no idea which track will be coming up next on his selection…

Queen Bee

Sunday, May 29, 17:00–19:00, Great Lawn

Her Instagram handle is @bristolqueen, essentially capturing the truth since Queen Bee has been reigning supreme in the ever-interesting music scene of this city of southwest England since the late ’80s. Starting out from Bristol’s small clubs, Roz Melina Skordilis (her last name giving away her Corfu ancestry) reached the point of playing before thousands of people at huge festivals, such as Shambala, Womad and Glastonbury, constituting in fact 1/3 of the famous Bristol Hi-Fi Soundsystem, alongside Massive Attack’s Daddy G and Mr Benn. 

Covering a wide musical range, from reggae and afrobeat, to house, drum ’n’ bass and dancehall, the “queen” lives and breathes funk and will make sure to pack it along with her on her way to Athens. 

Generations Line-up

Saturday 28/05:

Andy Smith (Ex-Portishead) | 20.00
Blend Mishkin | 19.00
BNC | 18.00
Kill Emil | 17.00
Junior SP. | 14.00
Dimitris Lilis | 13.00
Fun Dance Session feat. George Garavellos | 11.00

Sunday 29/05:

Dan Donovan | 19.00
Queen Bee (Bristol Hi-Fi) |17.00
DJ Palov | 14.00
Anna Mystic | 13.00
Fun Dance Session feat. George Garavellos | 11.00

See the Generations schedule here

Saturday 28/05 | 11.00-22.00
Sunday 29/05 | 11.00-22.00

Free admission