Press Release
With a focus on wind instruments, the festival continues to build bridges between tradition and contemporary creation, combining concerts, performances, workshops, site-specific installations, and participatory activities in a three-day celebration filled with music and creative encounters.
This year’s festival opens with a day dedicated to the community and collective participation. The winds of the Windcraft Band and the songs of the Windcraft Voices, the performance “Postcards from my Homeland”, a swing party with the Misharoz Band, and a traditional fiesta with zournas led by Ta Takouria, along with other parallel activities, breathe life into the village. With reduced admission prices, the opening day offers an even wider audience the opportunity to experience the festival’s special atmosphere.
What follows is a two-day programme featuring an exciting international line-up that brings to Katydata an eclectic spectrum of sounds and original collaborations: jazz interwoven with classical and global traditions, contemporary music enriched with traditional influences, and acoustic sounds blending with electronic elements. Among the highlights are the trio of award-winning French saxophonist Sylvain Rifflet, New Zealand saxophonist Hayden Chisholm, and Christos Yerolatsitis’s international project “Daydreaming”, featuring guest saxophonist David Lynch.
The Cypriot creative scene will also have a strong presence at the festival, with the Ermis Michail Amped Quintet, Krúe, and Ogmios—joined by Demetris Yiasemides on trombone—showcasing original compositions and new musical approaches. At the same time, Zoe Georgallis’s music and dance performance “Tip Tap Toe” offers a unique experience for children and families.
The festival will reach its peak with an explosive dance fiesta led by the Bojan Ristić Band and Federico Pascucci, filling Katydata with the energy and virtuosity of authentic Balkan brass bands. The festival’s finale will be a dynamic mega jam with an intense pulse, bringing musicians from different participating bands together on stage in a spontaneous musical exchange.
The artists’ residency programme “Rites of Life: Beauty and Destruction” is another key aspect of the festival. Supported by the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists (EFFEA), it brings together trumpet player Milad Khawam (Syria–Germany) and Cypriot performer Annie Khoury to co-create a new work that will premiere at the festival.
Beyond its music programme, Windcraft Music Fest continues to serve as a platform for contemporary creation and active audience participation. A variety of workshops, exhibitions, installations, and interactive activities for all ages enrich the visitor experience, highlighting the festival’s multidimensional character. The free parallel programme includes the three-day workshop for wind instruments “Total Tuning” with Hayden Chisholm, as well as workshops on Balkan music, Italian tarantella, jazz improvisation, and the art of making a pithkiavli (shepherd’s flute).
In the scientific corner, the interactive installation “Shape the Sound” will give visitors the opportunity to convert sounds into laser images. At the same time, workshops on cyanotype technique, cocoon creations, and recycled paper making will take place. Those wishing to get to know the village, its people and its stories more deeply will have the opportunity to walk through the exhibition “Sounds of the Fountains”, experience the immersive installation “Stone Pulse”, or participate in the treasure hunt “Why, bird, don’t you sing?”
In one of the most enchanting valleys of Cyprus, Windcraft Music Fest invites audiences to a memorable celebration of music, culture, and community spirit—a festival that brings out creativity, embraces diversity, and turns Katydata into a meeting point for people, ideas, and sounds from around the world.
Information: www.windcraftmusicfest.com
Ticket pre-sale has started at www.windcraftmusicfest.com/tickets
Contact: +357 22 377748, info@windcraftmusicfest.com
Organiser: Windcraft Loud
Sponsored by: Deputy Ministry of Culture – Department of Contemporary Culture
Supported by: European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists – EFFEA, Institut Francais Chypre, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Katydata Community Council, Aqua Crystal, Pale Blue, Lellos P. Demetriades Law Office LLC, Windcraft Music Centre, Strouthos Farm House
Official beer: SANDY
Media Sponsors: Kathimerini Cyprus, CyBC
